From the Beginning
by that girl65
Summary: From that first awkward moment in the hall, Chuck has been enthralled with Olive. Cholive fluffiness
1. Pielette

**Okay, sooo here's another Cholive fic. This chapter is short, but I promise the next one will be longer! But hey, while you're waiting, why don't you check out my other Cholive fics? Lol. Please review!!!!**

**Part 1**

"Does he touch you?"  
Chuck stood frozen, unable to move under the blonde woman's clear blue gaze. Her golden hair falling on her shoulders, landing just so between her breasts covered by her white patterned dress. She couldn't tear her eyes way from her beauty, entranced by it. The petite woman looked at her expectantly so she attempted to answer.

"Um," Chuck managed to spit out, "no."

The small woman sighed and offered a distracted smile, "Well at least I now know it's not just me," she sighed. Chuck felt a strange sense of relief knowing that Ned and this woman had never had any relations. But she wasn't sure if it was relief that Ned didn't have any romantic attachment to his neighbor, or that his neighbor had no attachment to him.

"Olive," the woman said holding out her hand. Chuck shook herself out of her daze and grasped the tiny hand being offered to her, "Chuck."

When their hands touched, Chuck felt a jolt of electricity pass between them and quickly pulled her hand away, wondering if Olive had felt it too. The blonde looked up at her frowning, with a strange look in her eyes. Their eyes remained locked for a few long seconds before Olive cleared her throat and looked away.

"Are you going to find Ned?" she asked, looking back at Chuck with a smile. She managed to nod.

"Well, I know exactly where you can find him," Olive said starting down the hall, motioning for Chuck to follow, "come on."

Chuck followed obediently, wondering what this power the tiny woman had over her that made her stomach do somersaults, sending her heart into flutters. She smiled silently to herself, readjusting the large sunglasses on her face. Chuck didn't know exactly what it was. But she knew she didn't want it to stop.


	2. Pielette II

**Okay, so I wrote and rewrote this chapter. First I had Chuck coming out to Ned in the end of the chapter, but then I figured it might be too soon so I changed it. Idk. Tell me if it works. Thanks soooo much for the reviews guys! I appreciate it.**

**Part 2**

Chuck couldn't help but gaze at Olive's swaying hips as she followed her to the Pie Hole. Olive turned to look at her and the brunette blushed, hoping she didn't notice where her eyes previously were.

"Where did you say you were from?" the blonde enquired.

"I didn't. Coeur d'Coeur," she answered, quickening her pace to catch up with the small woman. Olive stopped and looked at Chuck, her hands on her hips.

"You look familiar," she said slowly, squinting her eyes as she examined Chuck's features, "Have I met you before?"

Panic began to rise in Chuck's body, hoping Olive didn't recognize her from the newscasts that had been on the television about her death. "Uh, no. I don't believe so," she answered shakily, "but then again, I tend to look like a lot of people. I always have people think they recognize m-"

She was cut short as Olive brought her face closer to Chuck's. Her breath quickened as she examined the woman's fill lips, willing herself not to close the gap between them.

"Are you suuure I don-" Olive's eyes opened in realization, "Oh! I know! You look like that dead girl! On television."

Chuck shook her head furiously, "Well, I am definitely not her. Because she's dead." Her words fell out almost too quickly and she mentally smacked herself. Olive just looked at her curiously before starting back down the sidewalk, Chuck in tow.

They finally reached the Pie Hole and Chuck sank into the first booth across from Ned. Olive stood behind the booth, her head barely breaching the back of the chair.

"Are you the business partner?" she asked the bear like man next to her in the booth.

"Yes, ma'am," he answered.

"Found her upstairs. Doesn't she look exactly like that dead girl?" she said cheerfully.

The man threw Ned a knowing look, "She looks exactly like that dead girl."

"You should take that as a compliment, she was pretty," Olive said tapping Chuck's shoulder. She blushed under the blonde woman's look, quickly turning her head to look at Ned.

"Pie time," he said to Olive not amused.

"Pie time," Olive said grudgingly before she walked away towards the kitchen. Chuck watched Olive go, not paying attention to the heated conversation going on at the booth between Ned and his business partner.

She turned to them, "I've been ruminating – and by ruminating, I mean pondering, not chewing cud – how about we solve my murder and collect the reward? Wouldn't that be poetic? Certainly an anecdote."

The business partner addressed Ned, "She's supposed to be in the ground." Chuck took slight offense to the statement but ignored it. "Kitchen, now," he said, pushing Chuck out of the booth as he made his way to the kitchen.

Chuck moved to the other side of the booth, watching the two men converse in the kitchen, knowing it was about her. Olive slid in the booth across from her, pushing a piece of pie towards her. The dead girl accepted gratefully, smiling at Olive.

"Don't let that bother you," Olive said motioning towards the kitchen, "Emerson and Ned do that all the time. Boy talk. It's almost like they still think girls have cooties."

Chuck laughed at this comment, taking a bite of her pie. The sweet, flaky morsel melted in her mouth and her eyes opened wide, "This is the best pie I have ever tasted!"

Olive smiled, "Thank you," she said, clearly flattered.

"You made this?" Chuck asked between bites of pie.

Olive smiled, "Everyday I come in, I pick a pie, I concentrate all my love on that pie. 'Cause if I love it, someone else is gonna love it, and y'know what? By the end of the day, I've sold more of those pies than any other of the pies in the bakery."

"Well, this rhubarb is absolutely delicious," Chuck said looking up. Their eyes locked, blue eyes gazing into emerald. A warm feeling began to spread in the bottom of Chuck's stomach and she blushed.

She had read on one of her aunt's books about flirting with your eyes. She wasn't exactly sure what it was, but if this wasn't it, this was the closest she had ever come to it. Olive's lips curled in a flirtatious smile, "I'm glad you like it."

Unable to handle the blue stare any longer, Chuck looked back towards the kitchen. Both of the men were staring at her. "Maybe you should go over there," Olive said quietly, "it looks like you're being indirectly beckoned."

Chuck nodded, taking her last piece of pie before leaving towards the kitchen. By the time she reached her destination, the two men had resumed their conversation, not noticing her.

"Look: you don't know anything about this girl except she got herself killed," Emerson said to Ned. Chuck cleared her throat and the two turned to her.

"I'm not who you think I am," she said.

"Who does he think you are?" Emerson asked. "The small town girl who never saw the world only to have her first time out be her last – well, that is who I am, but I was hoisted by my own petard!" Chuck went on to explain to the two investigators the circumstances around her death.

"Well I guess we should go check out this Boutique Travel Travel Boutique," Emerson said walking towards the door not even bothering to wait for the other two. As Chuck stopped in her tracks as she towards the exit when saw Olive waiting on a customer.

The petite blonde's smile seemed to light up the restaurant as she happily took down the order. As she looked up, their eyes locked and her smile widened. Chuck blushed fiercely returning the smile and looking down at her feet shyly before looking back up at her flirtatiously. Olive offered a small wave before disappearing into the kitchen.

The feeling in Chuck's stomach seemed to spread all the way to her toes and she shook her head, trying to get rid of it. The smile was still plastered on her face as she practically skipped out the door after Emerson and Ned.


	3. Dummy

**Again, thanks for the reviews! This is a lot of set up, but it's about to get more Cholive-y. Enjoy!**

**Part 3**

At the end of the event filled day as Ned and Chuck sat outside of the Pie Hole, Chuck's mind wondered about many things. Mostly she thought of Olive. She wondered what she was doing right now, not being at the Pie Hole when they had arrived. And she also began to wonder why she was really here, "Was this really an act of kindness? Me, here? Were you really trying to do something good for no other reason to help me?"

Ned didn't look at her, instead he stared straight ahead, "I was being selfish. I'd love to tell myself I was being unselfish, but I know deep down in my primal sweet spot I was being unselfish for selfish reasons. I just thought my world would be a better place if you were in it."

Chuck looked down at her hands. It was obvious at this moment that Ned considered their relationship as more than friendly. She didn't want to hurt Ned, he had brought her back to life. But leading him on seemed just as bad.

"Ned," she started quietly, "I want to thank you. For the whole bringing me back to life thing. I owe you more than I could ever give you."

"Just you being here is payment enough," Ned said smiling sweetly at her. "Ned," Chuck said sadly, "I think it would be better if we just stayed friends." She saw Ned's face fall and she desperately tried to make it better, "I mean. I was dead. My life has changed completely. I can't be the same person I was before I died. Everything is just so confusing right now."

Ned looked straight ahead and nodded, "Okay."

"Really? Ned, please don't be mad at me. It's only for the best," Chuck said looking into his face for even a hint of what he was thinking.

"I don't want you to feel obligated to me. Just because I brought you back to life. So I think you're right, this is the best right now," he said still avoiding her gaze. Chuck smiled sadly, "I'm so sorry."

"No, it's fine. I understand," he looked at her and offered her a small smile.

"Thank you," she said softly. They were silent for a few moments before Chuck picked up one of the notorious monkeys, "Well, I figured since it cost me my life, I should get to keep at least one. And seeing as I wouldn't be alive if it weren't for you …I want you to have the other one." She handed the other monkey to Ned and he took it smiling, "It's like those little best friend charms but with monkeys."

Chuck smiled at him, knowing he did understand her situation, "Thanks for bringing me back to life."

"You're welcome," he answered softly.

The next day, Chuck stood in the Pie Hole kitchen, making a pie when Olive walked in. "Hey, Chuck," she said cheerfully. She was shifting flour when Chuck noticed her hair was significantly shorter than the day before, "You cut your hair?" she asked.

"Yeah, all that hair was starting to be too much. What do you think?" Olive asked modeling her new hair do. Chuck smiled, she couldn't manage to tear her eyes away from Olive, it was like she put her under an enchantment every time she walked into the room. The blonde giggled, "I think that's enough."

"What?" Chuck blushed thinking that Olive had noticed her staring. "Flour," she said pointing towards the shifter in Chuck's hands. Looking down, she noticed that a small mound of flour had built up on the counter. "Oh," she said trying to hide her embarrassment.

Olive stood beside Chuck and began rolling out the dough. Their arms brushed occasionally and Chuck fought the blush that was making its way up her face. "So," Olive began slowly, "How are things?"

"F-fine," Chuck said, unable to keep her concentration on the pear she was cutting when Olive's hip somehow managed to brush against hers. Her hands shook as she attempted to cut the hard fruit. "Hun, you're shaking like a leaf," Olive said putting a hand over Chuck's, "What's wrong?"

Her breath hitched in her throat at Olive's light touch. How could this woman do this to her? She barely knew this woman, but by looking in to her blue eyes, she knew she needed to know everything about her. So taking a deep breath, she mustered up all the courage she could manage.

"Olive," she began shakily, "Do you think, maybe, sometime you might want to-"

"Olive, I could really use your help right now," Ned said stumbling into the kitchen, arms full of plates. When he noticed Olive's hand on Chuck's he blushed, "Oh, sorry. I guess I came in at the wrong…I'm just gonna leave now."

The blonde shook her head, "Well I guess I better get out there," she sighed, "What were you saying?"

All the courage that Chuck had built up suddenly disappeared. "Nothing," she said quietly, "It wasn't important." Olive gave her an apologetic smile before grabbing an order pad and going to Ned's rescue.

Chuck sighed, mechanically filling the crust with fruit as she stared at Olive who flitted from table to table, a friendly smile plastered on her face. She also couldn't help but notice how the zipper of her Pie Hole uniform was strained against her ample breasts.

Emerson came into the restaurant and sat down, Ned sliding into the booth shortly afterwards. A few minutes later, the Pie Maker came into the kitchen, "Chuck, we're going to the morgue."

"Okay," she said taking a pie out of the oven. Ned looked at her expectantly, "Are you coming?" Chuck looked up at him evenly, "No. I'm going to stay and help Olive."

Ned looked slightly disappointed but nodded his head anyways, "Oh. Okay." Before, Chuck would have given anything to go out and have an adventure. But now, she just wanted to be near the tiny blonde.

The investigator and Ned left and Olive came into the kitchen with empty plates. "Thanks for staying to help me," she said as Chuck gathered plates of pie to take to some customers.

"No problem," Chuck said smiling at the blonde. At the end of the night the two girls sat at a booth, eating peach pie in comfortable silence. Olive looked at Chuck for a few moments before looking back at her pie. "So," she began, "what's up with you and Ned?"

Chuck shrugged and continued eating her pie. Here they were, just them, and all she could talk about was Ned. Although Chuck wasn't any better, having said nothing at all. "What does that shrug mean? Is that a things aren't going well shrug? Or a things are going so great I can't describe it shrug?"

Olive was forward in her seat, anxiously awaiting Chuck's response. The Dead Girl sat looking at Olive, not helping to suppress her smile as she looked so eagerly at her. "We're friends," Chuck finally said.

"So there's no touching involved?" she asked hopefully. "Not in the least bit," the brunette answered digging into her pie once more, "why do you ask?" Foolishly, Chuck hoped that Olive would reveal her attraction to her and they would find it mutual. She hoped she would take her hands and say, "I couldn't stand it if anyone touched you but me". But her foolish hopes were soon dashed.

"Well, I've been trying to get Ned to touch me for years, if you know what I mean," Olive said winking at her, "But I wasn't sure if he was touching someone else or not."

Chuck felt something inside of her break, "Oh." She stuffed a rather large piece of pie in her mouth to prevent her from saying anymore. Unfortunately, the piece of pie was slightly too large and she began to choke. "Oh no," Olive said rushing to her side. She began pounding on Chuck's back, but when she continued to choke, the blonde wrapped her arms around the taller woman, performing the Heimlich. Chuck calmed down, breathing steadily. Olive's arms still remained around her, propped on her knees behind her. The brunette's back was pressed against Olive's front and it took all her will power not to shiver from the touch.

"Are you okay?" Olive panted, the maneuver taking a lot out of her tiny body. Chuck nodded, her eyes closed. Olive lay her head on Chuck's back, still panting, "Hold on a sec, let me get my breath back." The two remained in this position for several minutes. And Chuck could not say she objected.

But upon remembering the blonde's confession to having feelings for Ned, an overwhelming sadness took over her. Olive finally let go of Chuck and sank in the seat besides her. "Thank you," Chuck choked out.

Just then, the Pie Maker and Emerson walked into the Pie Hole. Chuck noticed how the woman next to her seemed to straighten up at the sight of Ned, just as her heart dropped.


	4. Dummy II

**Thank you so much for the reviews! I appreciate it. It might be dragging along a little bit. I think I may be trying too hard to stick along with the show. So I might skip a few episodes just to speed it along. Enjoy!**

**Part 4**

"We gotta get back there tonight. See if whoever took that dummy mask left any evidence," Chuck heard Emerson say as she cleared away his and Ned's empty pie plates. "Can I go?" she asked hopefully. She wanted to get away from the Pie Hole, trying to avoid Olive's constant prodding about Ned.

"Yes," Ned said quickly. Emerson just rolled his eyes and slid out of the booth, walking towards the door.

"Olive," Ned said taking the pie plates from Chuck and heading towards the counter where the small woman stood. "Hiya!" she said cheerfully, a hopeful look on her face.

"Going out tonight: frivolous thing, hardly worth explaining," Ned said putting the plates in front of her. "Oh?" she said hopefully. "Could you close up?" it wasn't a question. Her face fell as she stared at the dishes, "I think I just did."

"What?" Ned asked, oblivious. "See ya in the morning," she said with a fake smile on her face. Olive saw the scene play out, her heart going out to Olive. As much as she wanted Olive's attention to herself, she knew what she was feeling towards Ned because she was feeling the same towards the blonde.

Ned and Emerson were out the door when Chuck walked up to Olive. "Bye, Olive," she said with a sympathetic smile on her face. Olive smiled back up at her weakly before she exited after the two men.

Chuck and Ned stood leaning against a dandelion fueled car as Emerson searched for evidence in the next room. Despite the chaos of the case they were on, the Dead Girl could only think of Olive and her feelings for Ned. At this moment, Chuck wished she had someone to talk to about her feelings. Ned, her best and only friend, didn't know about her attraction to those of the feminine persuasion. Maybe she could confess it to him if he asked the right questions.

"You wanna know anything?" she asked him.

"Know? About what?" Ned asked.

"About me. About my life before I was dead. Secrets."

Ned's face flushed at the last word, "What is so great about knowing? When you lift up a rock, do you find whipped cream? No, you find worms. I say no to knowing."

"We haven't seen each other in like twenty years: don't you want to know about me? I want to know everything about you."

"Look, we've all done things we're not proud of, we all have secrets."

"What kind of secrets?" Chuck probed once more. Increasingly uncomfortable, Ned stood up, "I'm going to go see if Emerson needs any help." The brunette sighed, following him.

A few hours later, Chuck found herself zipped into a body bag, crammed into a tiny eco-friendly car with Ned and Emerson, watching Mark Chase, the crazed developer of the car, wildly gesticulate outside of the vehicle. This is when Chuck realized she was going to die. Again.

"Son of a bitch," she said to herself. Turning towards Ned, she decided now was her last chance to come out to anyone about her orientation. So looked him in the eyes, "Ned, the real reason I couldn't go out with you is because I like women."

She searched his eyes, waiting for a response. But nothing. She then realized that the Pie Maker couldn't hear her through the body bag. But before she could be completely disappointed, Emerson unzipped Ned's bag. "Drive!" he commanded. Ned complied and they whizzed out of the car factory. They went as quickly as the small car could go, Mark Chase on their tail. Making a sharp turn, they managed to roll down a hill and come onto the street in front of the Pie Hole. Chuck's sigh of relief was too soon when Olive appeared in the headlights. She shut her eyes tight, not wanting to see the final moments of the blondes life. The passengers of the car screamed as Ned slammed on the breaks, the car stopping mere inches from Olive. Relief flooded over Chuck when she saw Olive and Digby standing unharmed in front of the car. She wanted to do nothing more but gather her in her arms at that moment.

Ned hopped out of the car, hands still tied together. Chuck grasped at the door handle through the plastic of the body bag, somehow managing to open it. She struggled to get to Olive, but only made herself fall hard on the pavement. Olive's face hovered in front of her as she unzipped the body bag that enclosed the brunette. Fresh air flooded Chuck's lungs, "Are you okay?" she asked Olive. "I am now," she answered looking at Ned briefly before looking back at Chuck. "Can you help us get out of these body bags?" the Dead Girls asked.

"Sure," she answered, tiny fingers working nimbly at the ropes that bound Chuck's hands. Olive helped her off the ground and once Chuck had steadied herself, she couldn't help but wrap Olive in an embrace. The tiny blonde tensed at first, but then relaxed into the hug and returned it. Right then, Chuck could have sworn that they were the only ones that existed; standing in the middle of the street, the brunette taking in the scent of lavender that was wafting off of Olive, her breath tickling her neck as her tiny hands were clasped behind Chuck's back.

Ned cleared his throat and Olive pulled away quickly, slightly flustered. She avoided Chuck's eyes and straightened out her already perfectly in place hair, her face red. Olive then went to help the Investigator and Ned out of their bonds.

A sad, pathetic happiness filled her heart when she saw how Olive smiled up at Ned, eyes sparkling. What she would give to have Olive look at her the same way. Even if just once.


	5. Pigeon

**Okay. The next chapter will be "Girth". Which is exciting because that's where the magic begins. I think. But I don't wanna give anything away. Thanks for the great reviews guys! Enjoy!  **

**Part 5**

Lately, Chuck had noticed that Olive had been somewhat cold to her. Her smiles seemed fake, and she avoided eye contact. There were no more after hour over pie talks like they had had before.

So when Olive came in that morning, she tried to be especially chipper towards her. "Good morning!" she said cheerfully with a small wave, returned by Olive. "Why is there a pie in my oven?" Ned asked as he opened the oven. "Oh, that's mine: I was practicing," Chuch said quickly as she took the pie from Ned. She didn't want Ned to know she was secretly delivering pies to her aunts, in fear he would make the communication stop.

"Smells like cheese. Is it quiche?" he asked. Chuck shook her head, "I baked monastery gouda into the crust with tart apple filling. I thought I'd try it

"You know what'd be delicious? Pear with gruyère crust! Bet that'd be real good," Olive said with a knowing smile. Chuck looked at her for a few moments, not exactly sure what to make of the blonde's comment.

"Yeah, it would," she answered innocently. Before anymore could be said, there was a loud thump on the window. Olive and Ned rushed outside while Chuck lingered behind. She saw Olive pick up the bird and say something to Ned. When Olive put the Pie Maker's hand on her chest, Chuck felt sick to her stomach. She knew she had no right to, Olive was not hers, no matter how hard she wished she was.

Chuck walked out side as Emerson walked up to the group.

"Is that a dead bird? Why you touching a dead bird?" Emerson bellowed, "Throw that thing away! It's swimming with disease and you serve food!"

"Don't be such a drama queen! Besides, it doesn't look diseased," Olive said holding the bird carefully.

"It's dead and it's a bird. It's diseased," Emerson said shoving the bird. He accidentally shoved it into Ned and the bird lifted its head, life flooding it once more.

"Ahh! It's a miracle bird! It's swimming in miracles, not disease!" Olive said happily as she stroked the bird lovingly.

"Maybe I should hold it –" Ned said reaching for it.

Chuck stopped him, "No, really, do you have to? She's obviously been through a lot and she seems really happy to be here." Seeing the happiness on Olive's face at the bird who had come back to life in her hands, Chuck did not want Ned to take that happiness away by touching it again. She began stroking the bird with Olive, their hands brushing against the other's occasionally. Chuck tried to shake off the feelings flooding her stomach, "I wonder how she lost her wing?"

"She doesn't seem to be in any pain," Olive said.

Ned twitched nervously besides them, "It's probably not in any pain, but what do I know? I'm not a bird."

"Pigeon," Chuck said, annoyed at Ned's presence.

"Pigeon! I was pigeon-toed as a child, but orthopedic shoes solved that," he said walking over to Emerson.

"Don't you worry: I know just what to do with you," Olive said to the pigeon before looking up at Chuck, "I recently made the acquaintance of a pair of bird lovers: I'll consult them."

"Really? I used to know a pair of bird lovers!" Chuck said remembering her aunts.

"Used to? Did they die?"

"Death was involved."

"How unfortunate."

A black bird fell from the sky and Ned flailed slightly, "It's raining dead birds!" Suddenly, there was a sound of a plane coming closer and closer.

"What's going on up there?" Olive asked. Looking up at the near by apartment building, they saw a plane crash into the building. Of course, Ned and Emerson went to investigate and Chuck was torn between her curiosity and staying with Olive. But when she turned around to look at Olive, she was already halfway down the street with a pie in one arm and the bird in the other. Chuck sighed, "I guess I'm going with you guys," she said to herself following the two men to the apartment.

The rest of the day went just like every other day the Dead Girl spent with the two investigators. She knew it should be thrilling, that she should be enjoying every minute of her second life that was much more exhilarating than her first life. But no matter where she was or what she was doing, no matter how exciting it was, she couldn't help but think about Olive. And how she didn't return Chuck's feelings.

She found herself in front of a windmill, not sure how exactly she got there, moving about in a haze all day. But the haze was lifted when she Olive came out of the red door of the windmill they had been standing in front of.

"Afternoon, gang!" the petite blonde said cheerfully.

"Olive?" Ned said cocking his head to the side. "What the hell are you doing here?" Emerson asked.

"Pie delivery," Olive said before turning to Chuck, "Tart apple, I believe."

"Olive-?" Chuck's heart overfilled with gratitude and affection at that moment. Chuck's aunts were inside, and Olive knew her secret, but she was protecting the Dead Girl from it.

"If you know what's good for you, and I think you do, you'll give me two minutes," Olive said to Chuck.

"Why?" Emerson asked.

"What for?" Ned mirrored.

"Okay!" Chuck said being the only one who knew the reasons behind the stalling.

"Goody then!" Olive said slipping back into the windmill.

Chuck thought of everything that could have happened if her true state was revealed to her aunt's. All the things that cold have gone wrong. She wanted Ned to know everything about her. The Dead Girl had tried to tell Ned in the dandelion car, but he never heard it. She wanted _someone_ to know about her secret that she had been keeping for most of her life. Both of them.

"Ned," Chuck began nervously, "do you remember before when I said all the things about you?"

"Yes," he answered slightly confused.

"Right, well, I feel like right now is a good time to tell you something that I've been keeping from you," she continued.

"Why?"

"Well, that way, if stuff happens. I'll have the closure of getting it off my chest."

"Okay."

Chuck took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "Ned, I prefer, well…I like wo-"

"Time's up!" Emerson said walking between Ned and Chuck and storming through the door. Chuck gently cursed the timing s Ned rushed in after Emerson, her confession forgotten.

Chuck looked back, watching the car that held her aunts and Olive drive away. She saw Olive turn and look at her, offering a small smile and a wave before the car disappeared around the corner. Sighing, Chuck sat on the back steps of the windmill, looking out at the rolling hills and setting sun, images of Olive floating in her head.


	6. Girth

**Okie Dokey. Here is the next chapter. It was going to be longer but I wanted to get something out there so I cut it short. Next chapter will be up soon. The next chapter is also where things get really complicated. So, Enjoy!  **

**Girth**

Chuck fluttered around the Pie Hole, hanging up Halloween decorations as Olive walked by, "Ned hates Halloween, y'know. Makes him moodier than a pumpkin full of P.M.S."

"Ned doesn't hate Halloween!" Chuck insisted as she hung another skeleton from the ceiling.

"I think tomorrow's his least favorite day; in fact, when he sees all this, you're gonna be one sorry, little zombie! Seriously, you're so…dead," the blonde said giggling.

Chuck sighed and looked at Olive, "So, I guess you delivered some pies to my aunts."

"Yeah, they're sweet. Probably would be a lot sweeter if they didn't think you were … murdered," Olive smiled to herself as she took another bite of pie.

"Did you tell them they were alive?" the Dead Girl asked, slightly panicked.

"Kinda think that would make their little heads explode. What was that rhyme? "I scream, you scream, we all scream, 'cause you faked your death!"

"You think I faked my death?"

"That's what I'm just saying. Unless you have a better explanation."

Chuck didn't know whether to be glad that Olive was clueless, or upset that she thought she was living a lie.

Before she could ponder on the subject any longer, Ned walked in the door, "Olive, Chuck." He stopped short when he was the Halloween decorations with a slightly horrified look on his face, "Spooky. We usually don't decorate for Halloween. This much. Or at all."

Olive looked triumphant, "Yeah, I'll have 'em down in a jiffy. Chuck just had her head up her –"

"No, it's okay, leave 'em up," Ned said quickly, "probably good for business, I mean …Thanks, Chuck!"

He walked out of the kitchen and Chuck looked at him curiously, "Ned used to love Halloween!"

Olive looked at her, the triumphant look still apparent on her face, "Yeah", I guess I know Ned better than you do, and now, I know you better than Ned does!"

"So does Ned know what you think you know?"

"Not yet."

"Who does?"

"Who knows?" Olive said cheerfully as she walked away. The sick feeling in Chuck's stomach only grew. Now, not only did Olive think she was a liar, she also had some sort of grudge against her for it. What she would give just for Olive to be her friend at this point. She walked into the kitchen where Ned was making pies and began rolling dough moodily.

"Why don't you like Halloween anymore?" she asked curiously. Ned's eye twitched, "Have you seen Olive?"

Chuck's heart leaped in her throat, "Olive?" she blanched.

"Yeah, I wonder where she went?"

Chuck wondered why Ned was so curious about the whereabouts of Olive. She had always assumed that Ned had no feelings for the small blonde, but maybe she was wrong. And if she was, then that means she had even less of a chance with Olive. Feeling nauseous, she didn't realize she was staring at Ned.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing!" she said looking back down at the dough.

"I said 'Olive' and your whole face just went Whoosh!"

Chuck looked back at the Pie Maker, shaking her head. "It's nothing."

Later that day after a trip to the morgue, Chuck found herself sitting at the usual booth with Ned and Emerson.

"I'd stick with the piss-in-my-pants story," Emerson said after listening to Ned and Chuck's childhood story, "Oh, there's Olive."

Chuck pretended to be reading her book about ghosts, but her eyes wandered to the counter where she saw the tiny blonde talking to Emerson. She loved Olive. She knew she did. But Olive obviously didn't feel the same way. Olive wanted Ned. So if she couldn't have the petite woman, she at least wanted to see her happy.

"You know," she said quietly, still looking at Olive, "Olive really likes you."

Ned was silent for a moment, "I know."

"Well, why don't you ask her out?"

"I don't like her how she likes me. To me she is merely a friend. No more."

"You can't tell me you're not attracted to her," Chuck said looking at him briefly, "she's attractive. And funny. And everything anyone would want in a woman."

"I don't know."

Chuck turned to him, a sorrowful look in her eyes, "You should." She turned back around just in time to see Olive collapse behind the counter and Emerson walk towards the booth.

"Emerson! What do you think you're doing?" she said getting out of the booth and rushing behind the counter. She cradled Olive's head in her lap, wiping a damp rag on her forehead. She had never been in this close proximity to the woman where she got to fully appreciate her features. She found her hand lightly running down her face, along her cheekbone, cupping her cheek. She felt herself drawing closer to the blondes face. She pressed her lips to her forehead lightly, her small breathes tickling her neck. But she felt her lips traveling even lower, until they were inches away from the blonde's parted lips.

She was about to close the gap when she hears a, "What da hell." She looked up and Emerson was standing in front of her, face contorted in confusion. "Emerson, I-" she stuttered as her face flushed in embarrassment, but no before Ned came over to see the commotion.

"Did she faint?" he asked cocking his head to the side.

Before anyone could answer, she began to stir, her blue eyes fluttering open. "What's going on?" Olive asked rubbing her eyes. Chuck looked at Emerson, her eyes pleading him not to say anything to either the blonde or Ned.

"Nothing," Emerson said, "You just fainted. Now go get yourself cleaned up." Olive held her arms up, asking for help getting up. So Chuck looped one arm around her waist and the other on the counter to pull them both off the floor. As they got up, Chuck's hand slid further up Olive's body, settling just below her ample breast. "Oh, no," Chuck thought, her face reddening. Olive didn't seem to notice, "Thank you," she said to Chuck, brushing herself off when she was steadied on the floor. "Mhm," was all Chuck could say as she let her arms fall limply to her sides.

Her mind clouded, not exactly sure what had just happened, being aware only of Emerson shoving her into a convertible. The cold air whipping her face as they drove down the highway brought her to. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"We're going to John Joseph's mother's house to get some information," he answered, "But you've got some explaining to do yourself."

Chuck sighed, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, like hell you don't. I just saw you in there about to take advantage of a certain waitress."

"I was not going to take advantage of her."

"She was unconscious and unaware of what was going on, and you were going to kiss her in this state. That's takin' advantage of in my book."

"I don't know what came over me. I couldn't help it."

"What do you mean you couldn't help it? And what about Pie Boy? I though you two were hot and heavy."

"We're just friends. And I couldn't help it 'cause-"

Chuck looked at the investigator, who was looking back at her. Here was her chance to tell someone her secret. To get it off her chest. To vent about her feelings for Olive.

"Emerson, I prefer the company of women," she said more confidently then she felt. Emerson slammed on the breaks, screeching to a stop, ignoring the angry honks he was receiving.

"What? You mean prefer like…prefer?"

Chuck nodded her head, "And I'm in love with Olive. But I can never have her. Because she's in love with Ned."

"Aren't people like you supposed to look like dudes? You don' look like a dude."

"That's very stereotypical, Emerson. Of course not."

"So you're telling me, that all these years Ned has been pining over you have been wasted, because you like women."

"Yes."

Emerson laughed, "Priceless."

"You can't tell Ned," Chuck said to him, "He doesn't know. And when he finds out, I want to be the one to tell him."

"If there's one thing I know. Ya'll love your secrets around here," Emerson said setting on the gas once more.


	7. Girth II

**Ok. Second part of Girth. More Cholivey goodness. And more angst. Enjoy!  **

**Girth II**

They spent the rest of the car ride in silence until they reached a pink house with lawn jockeys out front.

"Whoever killed Shoemaker obviously wants to give the impression that he's John Joseph's ghost. Stealing the body must be part of the plan.," Emerson said getting out of the car.

"Got it," Chuck said getting out after him.

"Oh, the mother may not know anything about her son's body being missing, so tread lightly."

"Anything else?"

"Yeah," Emerson sighed with a slight smile n her face as he looked towards some bushed. Olive came out of them, pushing her way past the branches. "Sorry, I'm late.. Hansel and Gretel would've lived a lot longer if they had to find this dump," she turned to Chuck, "Hi."

"Hi," she said she watched Olive walk towards the door.

"Olive's coming: she knows the woman. So you better keep it in your pants."

Chuck blushed fiercely, following Emerson and Olive into Mamma Jacob's house without saying a word. When they sat on the couch, Emerson made sure he was sitting between Chuck and Olive. "Just in case," he said under his breath. Chuck rolled her eyes.

"Oh, I do hope you'll forgive all the mess," Mamma Jacobs said twittering around the room, "but the hall of fame is remodeling their exhibit on Johnny, and they asked me to go over all of his trophies."

"Congratulations, Mrs. Jacobs," Olive said cheerfully.

"Thank you. It's probably just as well that you trampled him when you did, Olive, or else I would've had to buy another house just to put all the trophies in," the woman said, "I know that must sound a little –"

"Bitchy," Chuck murmured under her breath into her cup of tea. She had seen the hurt in Olive's face and wasn't about to let this woman hurt her. Emerson elbowed her, causing her to spill a little tea on her arm.

"What did you say your name was?" Mamma Jacobs said to Chuck, "Brandon? Butch?"

"Chuck."

"Chuck! I knew it was something unladylike," she said dismissedly.

The Dead Girl blushed and Emerson laughed, the information he had just received on the car ride over making the comment much more hilarious to him.

A few hours later, Chuck found themselves in a jockey bar with Olive crying over the dead body of Pinky McCoy. Ned had just joined them from whatever misadventure he had been on and was standing next to Emerson. "Dead Girl," Emerson whispered to her, "Take Olive outside so we can use the magic finger."

"Olive?" Chuck said kneeling down next to her and clutching her shoulders, "Let's go outside. We'll let Emerson and Ned look for evidence." She led her outside, the cool night air nipping at their skin. She sat them down on a bench and Olive twisted her fingers together.

"I shoulda done something," she said through tears, "I could have protected him."

"There was nothing you could do, Olive," Chuck said putting her arm around her shoulders. Olive sobbed into Chuck's shoulder, her tears soaking her dress. Chuck didn't mind, of course, wrapping both arms around her and drawing her close. The brunette knew she was using the blondes grief to her advantage, taking the opportunity to touch her, but she let her guilt subside until later, right now, she wanted to enjoy Olive's closeness. Her head rested on top of the blondes as she rubbed her back soothingly until her sobs turned to hiccups.

Olive looked up at her, "Why are you being so nice to me?"

"What?" Chuck asked, blushing slightly.

"I've been nothing but a bitch to you ever since I found out you were faking your death. And you've only been nice to me."

Chuck shrugged and looked up, avoiding Olive's blue gaze, "I like you, Olive. I don't think I could be mean to you if I wanted to." Without thinking, she leaned down and pressed her lips to the blonde's forehead like she had in the Pie Hole. Realizing what she had done, she quickly tried to apologize.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…I wasn't thinking," she said, words stumbling form her mouth.

Olive smiled slightly, resting her head on Chuck's shoulder once more. "It's okay. It was kinda nice."

Chuck smiled to herself as she held the blonde closely. "Olive," Emerson and Ned said simultaneously, and Chuck cursed their timing, forgetting they were actually on a case.

Later, Chuck found herself in Olive apartment. Something that she had hoped would happen eventually, just under different circumstances.

"Lock the door behind me: don't let anybody in," Ned said, leaving the two girls alone in the apartment.

"I love In-Charge-Ned. You really don't have to stay I can totally take care of myself," Olive said bravely.

"You're not scared? " Chuck asked, not wanting to leave the blonde's presence.

"No," Olive's bravura faltered, "Why are you?"

**"**No. I'll make some tea," Chuck said knowingly.

"And I'll get the booze to take the edge off," Olive answered brightly.

"Bourbon with a splash of Chamomile?"

"Aunt Lily's favorite!"

"Olive, thank you," Chuck said softly.

"For what, hun?"

"For keeping my secret. I wouldn't keep it from my aunt's if I didn't have to. And also just for…being a friend."

"Oh, it's nothing. I guess we all have secrets. And all secrets need friends."

"Thank you."

The two shared a sweet smile, "I keep the booze by my bed." Olive ran off to her room and Chuck remained in the kitchen.

"Hey, Olive, I love your horsey mugs!" Chuck called but to no answer, "Olive?" Papers blew across the kitchen and fear gripped Chuck's heart. "Oh, no," she thought as she rushed to Olive's room. She saw the window open and quickly climbed out. Scaling the fire escape to the roof, she saw Olive standing shell shocked in front of a very tall man. Without hesitations, Chuck threw the coffee mug that was still clasped in her hand towards the strange figure, hitting him square in the head.

"Are you okay?" she said rushing over to Olive, grasping her shoulders firmly. She nodded, her eyes still on the now unconscious man. "Who is that?"

"John Joseph," Olive croaked. After the jockey came too, he explained the whole situation to Chuck and Olive, about how he wasn't really dead. Realizing that he was not the murderer they were looking for, the women agreed when he asked for a ride home.

Little did they know they would end up on the run from a vengeful old woman on a horse. As they ran through the woods, Chuck realized this was the fourth time in the past couple of weeks that the prospect of dying was very real. She tripped on a tree root and landed on the damp ground with a hard thump.

"Ow, my ankle," she said trying to get up. Olive turned around and helped her up, "Here, put your arm around me," the smaller woman said as she half dragged half helped Chuck to safety, "Lean on me!" They stopped and crouched behind a tree.

"Run! Save yourself!" Chuck said to Olive.

"No, she's after me, not you," Olive said, her arm still around the brunette. Chuck looked into her blue eyes, thinking that this was it, she leaned in and kissed Olive fiercely on the lips. The blonde pulled away slightly for a second, and then pressed their lips back together. Electric shocks ran up Chuck's spine and she sighed in contentment, their situation completely forgotten. The sound of a horse whinny wrenched her out of her haze and the two girls pulled back.

Olive looked at her briefly, and she tried to read the look on her face. But before she could, Olive ran into the clearing in front of the oncoming horse.

"Hey, over here!" Olive yelled, waving her arms, "The old gray mare ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be-" her rambling turned into screaming as the horse and it's murderous rider approached quickly.

"Olive!" Ned said before whisking her into his arms and out of harms way. Emerson smacked Mamma Jacobs in the face with a shovel and she fell off the horse with a thud.

Olive limped out from behind the tree, just in time to see Olive in Ned's arms, kissing him with fervor. Her heart dropped. She had shown her true feelings to Olive. She had kissed her, after all. And she could have sworn that the blonde had kissed her back. But apparently, she was wrong because Olive was kissing the Pie Maker.

She fought to hold back tears, her ankle still throbbing with pain. Still motionless, she felt a large hand hold her arm. "Come on," Emerson said noticing both her emotional and physical distress, "Let's get you to the car."

Chuck nodded gratefully, slipping into the seat, the leather sticking to her body. She looked back at the clearing where she saw Ned still holding Olive in his arms, and the tears she had held back flooded down her face.


	8. Between the Days

**This occurs between "Smell of Success" and "Bitches". I am going to begin to deviate further from the script more now. Just to make it fit. Enjoy!  **

**Between the Days**

Chuck sat on the rooftop, among the bees. Listening to the gentle hum of hundreds of bees buzzing at once. Ever since that day in the woods, Chuck had not been able to bring herself going downstairs to the Pie Hole to face Olive. So she had remained holed up in Ned's apartment, sneaking up to the roof occasionally to visit her bees.

She cursed herself everyday for kissing Olive. They were right on the cusp of starting a wonderful relationship, and she messed it up with one foolish kiss. She felt a tear begin to fall down her cheek and quickly wiped it away. "You're such a fool," she said aloud to herself.

"Who are you talking to?" a familiar voice came from behind her and she turned around. "Olive?" Chuck asked slightly taken back by her presence. She came through the bee hives, looking more beautiful then Chuck had remembered her. Embarrassment flooded the Dead Girl's body. She had come to talk about the kiss. She knew it; there was no other reason for the blonde to come up here searching for her.

"Why are there bee hives up here?" Olive asked swatting one away. "Ned gave them to me," Chuck answered looking down at her hands.

"That seems like a very strange gift."

"It was very sweet. In context to the gesture not to the actually honey being produced."

Olive sat on the roof ledge next to Chuck, no more words exchanged between them for several moments. The brunette tried to hide the fact that she was flustered by the blonde's presence.

"So about the other night," Olive began. Chuck froze, words catching in her throat, "What about it?"

"I should be asking you," the tiny woman said gazing at her carefully, "You're the one who kissed me," she said not unkindly.

"Yeah, and then two seconds later you were kissing Ned," Chuck said under her breath.

"I just want to know what you meant by the kiss," Olive said scooting a little closer to Chuck, not hearing Chuck's comment.

"What did you mean by kissing me back?"

"I…I don't know. I just…it seemed. It was a reflex."

Chuck felt sick to her stomach. What she had hoped would have been a reciprocation of affections was nothing more than a muscle memory.

Olive continued, wringing her tiny fingers with her hand, "Wh-what did you mean by kissing me?"

"Nothing," Chuck said quickly.

"What are you telling me?"

"It didn't mean anything. That's what I'm telling you. It was a friendly expression of innocent gratitude."

Olive was silent for a few moments before speaking, "Oh," she said quietly before clearing her throat, "well I'm glad we got that cleared up!"

"Yeah. Me too."

"Well, Ned is looking for you," Olive said standing up and straightening out her skirt, "You're needed. Something about a polygamist"

Chuck continued to stare out at the city skyline, listening to Olive's heels tap against the floor, eventually disappearing as she descended down the stairs. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath of morning air, wiping a tear off her cheek that she didn't feel fall. Letting the breath out slowly, she walked towards the stairs.


	9. Bitches

**Okie dokie. So. I kinda went out on a limb with this chapter. But tell me what you think. Enjoy!  **

**Bitches**

Again, Chuck let herself be roped into another investigation with Ned and Emerson. Except this time, Olive had joined them as well. Chuck didn't know how she felt about this, still being slightly upset with her for toying with her emotions, no matter how unintentional they were, as well as being embarrassed for kissing her in the first place.

She couldn't help but notice how cute Hallie Hundin was when she opened the door to her home. Chuck looked at her blankly from behind large sunglasses, Digby in a harness at her side.

"Can I help you?" Hallie asked, her voice floating through the air.

"Um," Chuck said dumbly, "I wanted to talk to you about seeing-eye dogs?"

"Oh, okay. Come on in."

Chuck wandered into Hallie's home, tapping her cane in front of her as Digby pulled her inside. "You have a very lovely home," she said before catching herself, "it feels lovely." She ran into a wall, trying to be convincing and sniffed the wallpaper, "And it smells lovely. Do you use an air purifier?"

"It helps with the dander," Hallie said watching Chuck as she stumbled into a chair, "How did you lose your sight?"

Chuck thought a moment before answering, "I was cleaning out the kitty litter and I got cat sand in my eye. Horrible infection, very sad – "

"I know you're not blind," Hallie interrupted with a soft smile.

Chuck sighed and removed the glasses, "Oh, thank you, I feel awful doing that."

"It was humiliating for both of us," she said, still smiling. Without the glasses, Chuck was able to get a better look at the woman. She was cute, lacking the beauty of Olive, but still cute.

"So, why are you really here?" the dog trainer asked as she took a seat across from Chuck.

"I'm here about Harold."

"Oh," Hallie said, already getting choked up. Seeing the woman's distress, Chuck rushed over to her, putting her arm around her shoulders comfortingly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you," Chuck said.

"No, it's fine," she said sniffing and dabbing her eyes with a tissue, leaning slightly into Chuck's body, "What do you want to know?"

"What happened to Bubblegum?"

"Simone backed up over her."

"Bubblegum's dead? I was looking forward to being surrounding her in white light and positive energy. I wasn't quite sure how to do that but at least I could dog sit or take it for a walk in the park."

"That's really sweet of you," Hallie said looking at Chuck. Their eyes met and Chuck blushed, looking over at Digby as she cleared her throat nervously.

"Bubblegum was a good dog," she continued, eyes never leaving Chuck's face, "very affectionate. When she was feeling lonely she would cuddle up next to you. She knew how to make you feel loved. It was nice. Especially since sharing Harold with my other sister-wives didn't really leave a lot of time for cuddling and such."

Chuck nodded, rubbing Hallie's arm soothingly, "I understand. It's hard when your affections aren't always returned by the one you want them most returned by."

Hallie nodded and inched closer to Chuck, her hand resting on her thigh. The hand burned into Chuck's flesh, but it wasn't completely unpleasant. "Sometimes you just need someone else who will cuddle with you when you need to cuddle," Hallie said shrugging cutely.

Chuck smiled, "Yeah. Yeah, I guess you do."

Hallie looked down at her hands and back up at Chuck shyly. "I know we just met, and I'm being awfully forward," she said looking up at the brunette, "but I need to cuddle. And I think you do too."

Nodding timidly, Chuck let Hallie put her arms around her waist, her head resting in the crook of the Dead Girl's neck, carefully, she kissed her neck. Hallie sighed in contentment, angling her face, touching their lips softly together. And for the first time in a long time, Chuck felt wanted.


	10. Bitches II

**Okie dokie. Tell me if I'm getting too far out there with this plot. Please. Thanks for the great reviews! Enjoy!  **

**Bitches II**

Innocent pecking. That's all it was. At least, that's what Chuck kept telling herself it was. Innocent pecking. With maybe some moisture and maybe some touching. But nothing more than that. Her and Hallie were two lonely, broken hearted souls who were just trying to comfort each other in their time of need.

Plus, it wasn't as if Chuck was involved with any one. It's not like she should feel guilty about what she had done. So why did she? Why did she blush as if she had done something wrong when she walked into the Pie Hole that day and saw Olive behind the counter.

"What took you so long?" Ned asked Chuck as soon as she walked through the door. "Maybe I didn't take long, you just didn't take long enough," Chuck answered as she sat at the counter, avoiding Olive's gaze.

"My wife did it," Olive said suddenly, "she had murder in her eyes. And that murder was couture."

"My wife gave him his morning coffee," Ned said.

"So did mine!" Olive, Emerson and Chuck said in unison.

Emerson sighed, "No wonder that guy could handle four wives: the dude was caffeinated!"

"I don't think Hallie did it," Chuck said, smiling slightly, "she didn't give me that impression.

"Did she give him some morning coffee?" Emerson asked.

"She said she gave him his morning coffee and kissed him goodbye – which is practically a confession – but I still don't think she did it," Chuck said, slightly too defensive, eliciting a suspicious glare from Emerson.

"There she is now," Olive said ducking behind the counter, "you can ask her."

Hillary Hundin pointed at Olive, "That's her, the little one."

Heather Hundin looked accusingly at Ned, "Mr. Digby."

"Hi, Hallie!" Chuck said waving at the woman.

"Hi … Chuck," Hallie said, putting up a tough exterior that faltered slightly, a smile twitching at the corners of her lips. Emerson made a move to get up but Simone clicked the clicker, "Sit."

Emerson sat back down, a very perturbed look on his face.

"How did you guys find us?" Olive squeaked.

"Just looked for the bakery shaped like a giant pie. The food, not the horse," Hillary said smugly.

"We understand Harold left a note," Simone said.

"Who said anything about a note?" Emerson asked frowning.

Chuck shrugged embarrassed, "I said about the note."

Emerson looked at Ned, Olive and Chuck angrily, "'Under-' meaning 'below'. '-cover' meaning 'the radar, people'. What's so hard about that to understand?"

"Sorry."

"Who are you people?" Hillary asked.

Emerson put on his business face, "We'll get to the particulars of that once you get to the particulars of this: what kind of creamer you put into Harold's coffee?"

"Soy."

"Heavy cream."

"I don't put cream in my coffee."

"I use almond-flavored coffee cream creamer," Hallie said innocently. Chuck's mouth dropped, about to protest and protect her innocence. But before she could say anything, four police came in an took Hallie away.

"The police wrestled little Hallie Hundin to the ground and she's small: it was like a lion taking down a baby zebra," Ned said later as he took a pie out of the oven.

"And we were awful tourists sitting safe in our camouflaged SUV watching the injustice," Chuck said, upset at herself for not protecting Hallie.

"Injustice?" Emerson bellowed, "They found cyanide in her coffee."

"My wife, the baby zebra, is obviously being set up," Chuck argued, "she breeds helper puppies for blind children! I mean, she's no killer! She's an angel."

Emerson pulled Chuck aside, out of earshot of Ned. "You said Hallie didn't give you the impression of a killer," Emerson started, voice hushed so no one could over hear, "So what kinda impression did she give you, 'cause I have the impression that your impression of her is more than friendly."

Chuck blushed, "She was upset, I was merely comforting her."

"What kinda comforting did you do?"

"There might have been some kissing involved."

"Oh hell. That is definitely not under cover!"

"I'm sorry!"

"Listen, Dead Girl-"

"It's for you," Ned said holding the phone out to Emerson. Taking one final scolding look at Chuck, he took the phone. Thankful for the break, Chuck went and sat down at the counter.

"So you really think Hallie is innocent," Olive asked, taking a seat next to her.

"Yes," Chuck answered, "She's a sweet woman. I don't think she's capable of murder." Olive nodded, fiddling with the salt shaker on the counter. "We sell pie," she said looking at the shaker, "why do we have salt shakers?"

"Maybe in case someone likes salty pie," Chuck said calmly. She wondered why Olive was trying so hard to make conversation with her.

Olive laughed, maybe a little too hard, and touched Chuck's arm, "You're so funny, Chuck."

Chuck looked at her warily, "Yeah. A hoot." Olive's hand remained on Chuck's arm, and the feeling in her stomach started to come back.

"We're going to visit Hallie in jail," Emerson said walking up to the women, he pointed at Chuck, "you better come. Since you two are so friendly and all."

Chuck blushed fiercely, before following and Emerson out of the restaurant, leaving Olive behind.

"Everybody's been really nice. It's not at all like those prison exploitation films," Hallie said, hands grasping the bars of her cell.

"So you don't need cigarettes or alcohol or the right moisturizer to use as currency?" Chuck asked, her hands covering Hallie's.

She shook her head, curls bouncing, "Oh, no. That's my friend, Teresa, she says she runs the cell block, so I'm protected." There was a woman sleeping on a bunk with her back towards everyone.

Ned smiled, "She sleeps a lot for someone who runs a cell block."

Hallie whispered, "I don't think it's been an easy road for her."

Emerson glared at Chuck and Hallie's hands touching on the bars, "Well, it'd be a lot easier road for you once you help us find out who killed Harold. Hallie, was it Hillary, Heather or Simone?"

"It couldn't have been any of my sister-wives," she answered quickly, "we all love Harold too much to kill him."

"Well good thing you got over that," Emerson said under his breath, still looking between Chuck and Hallie.

"Oh, no, it was one of your sister-wives. Harold said so," Chuck said quickly catching herself, "In his note."

"If you ask me … oh, are you asking me?" she said crinkling her nose.

"Yes!"

Hallie got a dark look in her eyes, "It was Ramsfeld Snuppy. He's another niche dog breeder, but not as niche as Harold. Snuppy wanted our Bubblegum: Snuppy wanted to collaborate with Harold to make Colladorrussellpoo superpuppies, but I think Snuppy wanted all the doggie treats to himself. He could've easily planted the cyanide in my almond-flavored coffee creamer."

"But murder? For a few puppies?" Ned said unconvinced.

"Snuppy had big plans for her."

After explaining her story, Hallie looked between the men. "Well, I guess we better go look for one Ramsfield Snuppy," Emerson said, "Come on, let's go."

"Um, I'm going to stay for a little longer," Chuck said looking from Hallie to Emerson. Stopping, the Investigator looked her up and down, "Mmmhm."

The two left, leaving Hallie and Chuck alone, except for Teresa of course. "So, how are you?" Chuck asked.

Hallie shrugged, "Things could be better."

"Listen, about earlier-"

"No, it's okay. If you just want to forget it…"

"I don't know. Do you want to forget about it?"

"It was awfully nice."

"It was, wasn't it?"

Hallie blushed, nodding

Chuck sighed. Olive was never going to be hers. She knew that now. She needed to move on, and Hallie might be able to help her do that.

"After you get out," Chuck began, "Maybe we can go out. Like, on a date." The dog trainer nodded, "I would like that."

The day after Hallie was let free, she walked into the Pie Hole, taking a seat at the counter nervously. Seeing her, Chuck went over to her, "Hey! How are you?"

"I'm good," she said shyly, eyes wandering the restaurant, "and you?"

"Good. Can I get you anything?"

"Apple pie please."

Chuck went into the kitchen, preparing a piece of pie. Olive came up to her, "What's that Hallie doing here?"

"She came for pie."

"It looks like she's here for more than pie."

Chuck looked at her, heat rising up in her face. Olive smiled softly back at her knowingly. "I think it's good that you found someone," Olive said almost sadly. The blonde took Chuck's hands in her own, "I just want you to be happy."

Chuck was speechless, unable to respond as the blonde gave her hand a squeeze before walking away and out of the restaurant. And Chuck was more confused than she had started out.


	11. Smell of Success

**So this is not the last chapter. Don't worry. There will be a couple more chapters. So. Just tell me what you think. Thanks for the great reviews! Enjoy!**

**Smell of Success**

Hallie had been spending a lot of time at the Pie Hole. Olive had been spending a lot of time hidden in the kitchen when Hallie was at the Pie Hole. And Chuck had been spending a lot of time ruminating on the meaning of Olive's avoidance of her and nervous ramblings when they were together.

Chuck and Hallie were sitting at a booth, eating pie and talking casually when Olive slid into the booth next to Chuck. "Hey, guys!" she said happily, bouncing slightly in her seat.

"Hey, Olive," Chuck said without looking at her. She didn't want to be friendly towards Olive, because when she was, she always managed to become even more attached to the petite blonde than she already was.

"What's going on?"

"We were just discussing plans for tonight," Hallie said with a smile. Olive's smile faltered for a second, but she quickly regained her composure, "Oh, fun! What are you two love birds planning?"

The uncomfortable feeling that had taken over Chuck was growing with each word that left Olive's lips. Sitting at a booth with both the girl she was kind of sort of dating and the girl she rather be dating was not the more comfortable situation.

"I'm going to make Chuck dinner," Hallie said taking another bite of pie. "Oh," Olive said slowly, "how nice." She left the booth just as easily as she had come. Chuck stared at her pie, picking at it with her fork. "Are you okay?" Hallie asked, putting her hand over Chuck's.

She forced herself to smile, "Yeah, I'm just not feeling well."

"Does it have to do with a certain very petite woman?"

Chuck looked up at the woman across from her who had a knowing smile on her face. Chuck shrugged, "It's nothing. Really."

"Chuck," Hallie pressed, "you can tell me."

Sighing, Chuck caved, "I like her. A lot. But she doesn't feel the same about me, so there's no point."

"How do you know she doesn't feel the same?"

"She's in love with Ned."

"Well-"

"I don't want to talk about it," Chuck said quickly, immediately feeling guilty when Hallie flinched. "I'm sorry," the brunette sighed, "It's just…I'm still sensitive about it."

Hallie nodded, "I understand." Chuck smiled at her gratefully.

Later that night, Chuck and Hallie were in apartment 43, making dinner when there was a knock at the door. "I'll get it," Chuck said walking over to the door. What she wasn't expecting was Olive standing in the hall.

"Hey, Chuck!" she said cheerfully, "I'm sorry to bother you, but I think I got some of your mail." The blonde stepped into the apartment, pushing past a shocked Chuck. "Olive, what are you doi-"

"Hi, Olive," Hallie said from the kitchen.

"Oh, I didn't know you had company," Olive said, "how rude of me."

"We told you in the Pie Hole earlier that she was coming over," Chuck said, slightly confused. She wanted to know why Olive had been acting so strange lately. Ever since she had started seeing Hallie.

"Oh, yeah. Must have slipped my mind," Olive said forcing a laugh, "You know how I get sometimes."

"You said you had some of my mail?"

"Oh, yeah, here."

"Olive, this is for a Mr. Rosecrans."

"So it's not yours?"

"No."

"Oh."

Hallie came out of the kitchen, "Olive, would you like to stay for dinner?"

Chuck's eyes grew wide and she gestured at Hallie from behind Olive's back. Olive was obviously imposing herself for some reason, and she didn't want her to be around long enough for Chuck to find out why.

"Oh, no, it's alright," Olive said, "I have stuff to do." Chuck sighed in relief, but Hallie persisted, "Are you sure? We have more than enough food." Chuck buried her face in her hands.

"No, I couldn't. Thank you though," Olive said she backed up and ran into Chuck, almost knocking them backwards. Chuck steadied herself by grasping at Olive's waist. Olive's back pressed against Chuck's fronts, her hands on her small waist, the brunette couldn't think properly as tingles ran through her entire body.

"Oh, sorry," Olive said, though didn't make an attempt to move from Chuck's grasp. "It's okay," Chuck squeaked, arms falling heavily to her sides as she attempted to back away from the tiny woman.

"Well, I better go," Olive said making her way toward the door awkwardly, "bye!"

"Bye!" Hallie said as the door closed. Chuck collapsed on the couch, shaking slightly. Her heart was pounding so fiercely that she was afraid it would pound out of her chest, and the blood that wasn't in her cheeks seemed to have settled in a lower portion of her body.

"What did you say about Olive not being interested in you?" Hallie called from the kitchen. Chuck grunted, her head in her hands. Hallie sat down next to the frustrated woman and rubbed her back.

"Does she know what she does to me?" she croaked.

"I don't think she knows," Hallie said, "But I think you have the same effect of her."

Chuck looked up at her, "What?"

"She's jealous."

"No, she's not."

"She came over here to purposely interrupt us so that she could see how…intimate we were. That looks like jealousy."

"Or being nosy."

"Chuck. She likes you."

Shaking her head wildly, Chuck insisted, "This is too much for me to think about right now."

Understanding, Hallie nodded her head, stroking Chuck's hair comfortingly. She kissed her forehead, "I understand."

They had decided they shouldn't see each other anymore. Not as more than friends anyways. Chuck and Olive pretended like the incident in the apartment had never happened, neither wanting to bring the awkward situation back up.

Chuck lay in her bed a few weeks later, staring up at the ceiling. She couldn't stop thinking of Olive. Sure there relationship had went back to normal for the most part, but that didn't erase the feeling she had for her. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door and Chuck sighed, "Who could it be at this time of night?" She looked over at Ned, who was sleeping soundly, unperturbed by the persistent knocking. The brunette swung her legs out of the bed and shuffled to the door. Before the door was even fully open, a small woman pushed her way through the door, leaping on Chuck. They lost their balance and Chuck fell to the floor with a thud, the other woman on top of her.

"Olive?" Chuck asked in disbelief. "No talking," Olive said breathlessly. She pressed her lips to Chuck's with such a force that she felt she would faint. Their kisses became for desperate and sloppy as their desire grew. Olive pulled away, straddling Chuck's hips, "We're wearing too many clothes," she said pulling her nightgown over her head. "What about Ned?" Chuck asked. "Forget about Ned," Olive said pulling at Chuck's nightgown.

"He's in the next room," she giggled as her nightgown was thrown to some corner of the room. "Stop thinking," Olive said, her hands roaming all over Chuck's body, their lips reconnecting once more. The blonde pulled away from her, causing Chuck to whimper.

"You're gonna need to wake up you know," Olive said looking at her. "What?" Chuck asked holding Olive's arms. The small woman brought her lips closer to the brunette's teasingly, "Wake up."

Chuck jolted awake, sitting up from the bed frantically. She gasped for air, looking around the room. She was in bed, sheets soaked through. "Oh my god," Chuck muttered to herself, cradling her head in her hands. It was a dream. It was all a dream. He pounding feeling between her legs, however, was definitely not a dream.

Chuck couldn't go through the days anymore pretending she wasn't harboring these feelings for the blonde. Her eyes were expertly trained on her, used to watching her every move. Her heart would leap into her throat as her voice floated through the air, even when it was merely a customer's order. She needed to talk to Olive. And she needed to talk to her now.

She wasn't sure whether it was the lack of sleep, the secret burning inside of her or the burning desire between her legs that was fueling her out of the apartment and down the hall to Olive's door. But after the first knock, it was too late to figure it out.

"I'm coming, I'm coming," came a muffled voice through the door. Chuck stood nervously, her thighs closed tight together, trying to suppress the feeling between her legs. "What am I doing?" Chuck suddenly thought to herself, "I should leave right now. She'll never know it was me." She was about to turn and go back to apartment 43 when Olive opened the door, "Chuck?" she said in disbelief, "What are you doing here?"

Chuck's mouth opened and closed like a fish, suddenly at a loss for words. Olive ushered her into the apartment. Looking at Olive in her short nightgown, stopping halfway down her tanned thighs, Chuck swallowed all the anxiety she was feeling and let all the feelings she had stumble out of her mouth.

"Oliveimnlovewityouandireallydonwanthistoruinourfriendshipbutireally-"

The blonde put a finger to Chuck's lips, stopping her mid ramble. Her breath caught in her throat and she closed her eyes. Olive slowly removed her finger from her lips and pushed her lightly onto the couch. "Now," she said, "let's start again. But slower."

Chuck took a deep breath. "I love you, Olive," she said slowly, her eyes still closed. Silence. Her confession was met by nothing but silence. So she slowly opened her eyes, afraid that she would repulse Olive. But instead, she was sitting there, smiling softly at the taller woman.

"Oh, Chuck," she said softly, "Why didn't you say anything sooner?"

"What?"

Olive scooted closer to her, "Ever since that day on the road. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you."

"But…but you kissed Ned."

"It was a reflex. I was confused. It seemed like the logical think to do at the time."

"It really hurt to…to see you kissing him. Especially after you kissed me."

"I know, Chuck. I'm so sorry. That day I went up to the roof to tell you how I felt and then you said the kiss didn't mean anything. And then you were with that Hallie girl and. Oh, Chuck. I was so confused!"

Chuck put her hands over Olive's, tears falling from her eyes. Chuck cupped her cheek, wiping the tear tracks from her face. "I'm so sorry, Olive," Chuck said tears falling from her own eyes, "I was so hurt after you kissed Ned. I didn't know what I was doing."

Olive closed her eyes, and leaned into Chuck's palm. "No more talking," she whispered, leaning into Chuck. Their faces getting closer and closer. "Olive, I-"

"No more talking."

Their lips pressed together, and the most wonderful feeling began to course through Chuck's veins. Warmth filled her body and she pushed herself closer to the blonde. They pulled away, their faces still close. Chuck stroked Olive's face lovingly, taking in every aspect of her face. For the first time in weeks, she smiled genuinely.


	12. Bitter Sweets

**Okay, more Cholive goodness. Things are getting fluffy. Tell me what you think and tell me what story lines you want to see made Cholive and I shall! Thanks for the great reviews! Enjoy!**

**Bitter Sweets**

The two women lay on the couch, Chuck on top of Olive with her head resting on the blonde's chest. The petite woman was playing with Chuck's hair, who sighed in contentment as her nails scratched her scalp. They were like that for a while, having tiny conversations between the comfortable lulls of silence. Occasionally, they would kiss, reveling in the sweetness of each other. But mostly, they just took in each other's presence, and somewhere in between they fell asleep.

The next morning, Chuck blinked the sleep out of her eyes. The steady breathing of the blonde beneath her assuring her that the events of last night were not a dream. Smiling to herself, she closed her eyes and just listened to Olive's breathes. She couldn't believe this was true, she was certain she would awake in a few moments like she had earlier, finding it all a dream.

Kissing Olive's chest lightly, she gently got off her and padded quietly towards the kitchen. Putting on some water she made tea, warming her hands with the cup clutched tightly in her palms. She walked over to the bedroom window which was open and sat in the sill, letting the morning air cleanse her senses.

She was so wrapped in her thoughts that she didn't hear Olive come up behind her. "Hey, you," she said sitting next to Chuck. She smiled at her, her heart rate quickening just at the site of her. "Hi," she said quietly, looking down at her cup, suddenly shy.

Olive leaned over and kissed her cheek, "Good morning." Not satisfied, Chuck turned her head, capturing Olive's lips with her own. Olive pulled away and wrinkled up her face, "I have morning breath."

"I couldn't care less," Chuck said leaning back in, but Olive turned her head, giving Chuck her cheek. The brunette groaned in frustration as Olive flitted to the bathroom, "Just let me brush my teeth," she said in a singsong voice.

She followed her to the bathroom, coming up behind her just as Olive was putting her toothbrush away, "Minty fresh," she said turning around to face Chuck who wasted no time in kissing her fully on the mouth. She reciprocated the kiss, giggling and putting her arms around Chuck's neck. The kiss deepened, soon becoming the most passionate one they had shared.

Olive ran her tongue tentatively over Chuck's lower lip, asking for entrance. Her request was granted and her tongue massaged Chuck's lovingly. Their need for air became apparent and their kisses become shorter and more chaste. Chuck nuzzled her face into Olive's neck who wrapped her arms around the taller woman.

"Is this real?" Chuck whispered into her neck. Olive said nothing, just held her tighter, kissing her head.

The next few days were the happiest in Chuck's life. She had Olive, now, and she didn't need or want anything else. They had yet to discuss the peculiars of their relationship, however. And Chuck wasn't exactly sure what it was that they were doing. So she decided to ask.

They were in the kitchen of the Pie Hole, eating muffins when she managed to spit in out. "Olive," began her ramble, "Am I your girlfriend? I realize that girlfriend is familiar, trite label – if convention were soaked in girlfriend would be dripping with it – but we've never actually said it. And not that we need to define the relationship, but it might be helpful in a familiar, trite way – the way on a holiday created to sell greeting cards – it's still nice to get a card … and are you going to cut me off with a 'Yes' anytime soon?"

"Yes," Olive said smiling, "I just think your rambling is cute." Chuck smiled back at her, and leaned in for a brief kiss. They continued eating their muffins in silence for a few moments, "Hey, you wanna go out tonight?" Chuck asked shyly, "Like, on a date?"

Olive beamed back at her, "I would love to."

The bell above the door jingled and a gangly, pale man walked in with a smile plastered on his face.

"Hey, have you guys heard? The most amazing new candy store is opening up across the street! It's amazing!:

"Who are you?" Ned asked.

"I'm just some guy telling everybody about 'cause it's so amazing! Seriously, everybody, you've gotta check this out!"

Olive walked into the dining room, "Do you work for the candy store?"

"No, I'm just some guy."

"Some guy?" Olive said questioningly.

"Yeah, some guy who sure loves candy! Be sure to tell everyone you know! See ya!" with that he walked out the door. Chuck and Olive went and sat across from each other in the booth with Emerson and Ned.

"Now see, this how it all ends: some weird guy comes in saying stuff that don't make no sense, and by the time your head realizes, 'Hey, this weird guy don't make no sense', your guts are all over the window," Emerson ranted.

"Here," Chuck said handing Emerson a muffin, "Did I tell you Olive's my girlfriend?"

The two women exchanged a smile and Ned looked shocked. "Wh-what?" he stammered, "Chuck, I didn't even know you were…that you…oh god." He buried his face in his hands and Emerson laughed.

Later, after confrontations with Dilly Balsam, they found themselves in the now closed Pie Hole after the health inspector closed them down.

"What? You think I should do something?"

"We're just saying," Chuck and Olive said together.

"No!" Ned insisted, "You let your anger win and you engage the crazy person and you're no different than they are! People say, 'Hey, look at those two crazy people fighting!' I will not engage."

"Yeah, but if you don't engage, pretty soon people will start saying, 'Hey, look at that crazy person just sitting there doing nothing!'" Emerson said agreeing with the two women.

"Gotta give her a dose of her own medicine," Chuck insisted.

"Chuck, don't go over to the Dark Side, Ned pleaded, "Revenge never works."

"I gotta go," Chuck said heading towards the kitchen, grapping Olive by the hand as she went. **"**Me too," Olive said.

"So, I know what we're going to do for our date," Chuck said when they got to Ned's apartment, "It's a little unconventional but unconventional is good, right?" She was digging through the drawers, pulling out pieces of black clothing.

"Depends how unconventional," Olive said sitting on the bed and watching her. Chuck held up a ski mask, "We're going to break into Bitter Sweets and sabotage them. Too unconventional?"

Olive's face lit up, "No! Just the right amount of unconventional!" Neither Chuck nor Olive could have predicted that a midnight heist on a rival business would have been quite possibly the most romantic date they were ever on. But it was. They both were completely exhilarated when they made it back up to the point in the hall where their two apartments met.

Giggling, Olive pushed Chuck against the wall and wrapped her arms around her. "I had a really good time," she said looking up at her. "Me too," Chuck said, kissing her lightly. Olive grabbed the back of Chuck's head and made the kiss deeper. Olive moaned when Chuck slipped her tongue inside her mouth, her hands roaming the brunette's curves. "We're in the hall," Chuck said against Olive's mouth as her hands became more adventurous. Olive groaned and resumed the kiss as she began to push Chuck towards apartment 44.

Chuck pulled away. "What's wrong?" Olive asked, hands on her waist. "I can't, not tonight," Chuck said pulling Olive closer. Olive blushed, "I'm sorry. Was I being too forward? I didn't mean to. I just assumed. But you know what happens when you assume! You make an ass-"

The brunette silenced the rambling woman by pressing their lips together. Olive sighed. Chuck pulled away and smiled, "I would love nothing more than to join you in your apartment tonight. But I'm sure Ned is going to worry about me. And plus I haven't really talked to him about the whole…you thing."

Olive nodded, bringing their lips together once more. Chuck pulled their bodies as close as possible, shivering when their breasts pressed together. She kissed along Olive's jaw down to her neck where she sucked lightly on her pulse point. Olive groaned, "Are you sure you can't come in?"

"Mhm," Chuck said, her lips never leaving her neck. "Not even for a little bit?" Olive said, gasping slightly when Chuck nipped at her sensitive spot, her skin already reddening. The brunette kissed her way back up to her lips before pulling away. "If I come in, I'll never leave," Chuck said, kissing her once more.

Olive whimpered as Chuck pulled away and began walking towards apartment 43. "I'll see you tomorrow," Chuck said walking backwards so she could still see Olive. She leaned against the door and blew the blonde a kiss. "'Night," Olive said wistfully. "'Night," Chuck answered opening the door slowly and walking inside eyes on Olive the whole time. Once she was inside, she leaned against the closed door and smile happily.

She skipped over to the window and threw open the curtains.

"Chuck?! I thought you were Dilly Balsam!" Ned said coming through the door, "Why are you dressed like a cat burglar?"

"Why are you dressed like a fishmonger?" Chuck said.

"I was scrubbing the kitchen."

"I was out with Olive. You know what? She is really great!" she said flopping on her bed.

"Chuck?"

"Sorry, my whole body's pumping with adrenaline!" Chuck looked over at Ned, a confused, hurt look on his face. She remembered practically jumping out of the closet at him this morning and sighed, "Are you upset with me?"

"What's freaking me out is the ruthless woman trying to shut down The Pie Hole. This has nothing to do with us!"

Chuck could tell her was lying and sat up on the bed.

"Ned," she began, "I'm really sorry about springing that on you today."

The Pie Maker sighed, "Sorry? Why would you be sorry? There's nothing to be sorry about. You didn't hurt me, or mislead me or wish anything ill of me."

"Ned, I didn't tell you about me and my…preferences. You're my best friend it was the least I could have done."

"I kinda figured something was up. You and Hallie-"

"Let's not talk about Hallie. She was nice but…still."

"Chuck, we all have secrets. I of everyone should understand that. I can't be upset at you for keeping secrets. That would be hypocritical of me."

"Yeah, but this wasn't a secret like 'I accidentally sat on your Scooby Doo lunch box in 3rd grade'. This was a big life changing secret that I kept from you."

"It's okay, Chuck," Ned said smiling, "I'm just happy that you're happy. You're happy, right?"

Chuck smiled at him and nodded her head, "The happiest I've ever been in my life."


	13. Between the Days II

**Ok. This takes place between Bitter Sweets and Corpsicle. Although I think I'm going to skip Corpsicle and go straight to Bzzzz. So tell me what you think. I think I'm just going to end up doing the whole series. Why not? It's not very long, now is it, ABC??? (Damn you ABC!) Enjoy!**

**Between the Days II**

The Pie Maker and the Dead Girl lay in their respective beds later that night, just talking about nothing, catching up on the last twenty some years of their lives. "Chuck," Ned said nervously.

"Mhm," she answered, just on the brink of sleep.

"I killed your father."

Chuck's eyes flew open, staring at nothing, her heart breaking with every second. Her hurt she felt numbed her, turning the world around her into a haze. Somehow, she had made her way onto the roof. She wasn't sure how. She vaguely remembered Ned chasing after her, yelling at her. But he obviously had gone down the stairs as she went down the elevator.

The winter chill had just began to blanket the city, small snow flurries began to float over the roof top, just as a chill began to run through her heart. Ned had killed her father. However unintentional it was, Ned had killed her father.

She felt a small hand on her back and she jumped slightly. She turned around and saw Olive standing before her, still dressed in her pj's.

"I heard doors slamming," she said quietly, "So I looked outside and saw you and Ned and….are you okay?"

Looking at Olive, seeing the genuine concern in her eyes along with love and compassion, she broke down and cried. Olive held her tightly, her face buried in the small woman's neck. Again, the haze clouded over her senses and she found herself in Olive's apartment.

Olive laid her on the bed and tucked her into the covers tightly. "If you need me, I'll be in the living room on the couch," Olive said kissing her forehead lightly, making her way towards the living room. "Olive," Chuck called out. Olive came quickly back to the bedside, stroking her hair. "What is it, Sweetie," Olive said soothingly.

"Don't leave me," she said quietly. Without another word, Olive crawled into the covers besides Chuck, putting her arms around her lovingly and kissing her head. Chuck nuzzled into Olive's neck and let the tears flow once more.


	14. Corpsicle

**Okay. Corpsicle. The whole series is a comin'! I'm sooo glad you guys like this fic!!! I was so happy with all the great reviews you guys are giving me. Tell me if you think I'm not on script enough or I'm too much on script of whatever. Thanks again! Enjoy!**

**Corpsicle**

The next morning, Chuck awoke with a start, unsure of where she was, but feeling the tiny arms around her, she relaxed. Her face was still buried in the crook of Olive's neck and she closed her eyes, taking in her scent. Lavender she decided. The blonde was singing quietly into her hair, stroking her head lovingly. Sighing, Chuck enjoyed the sound of Olive's voice as it floated airlessly through the room.

"You have a beautiful voice," she said softly when she finished. "I didn't know you were awake," Olive said with a hint of embarrassment in her voice. Chuck said nothing, just kissed the bottom of her chin tenderly. The blonde squeezed her gently, "Are you okay?"

Sighing, Chuck answered, "I've been better." Kissing the top of her head, Olive gently got out of bed, "Ima go make some breakfast."

Chuck whimpered at the loss of contact, holding her pillow closely. Olive went into the restroom when there was a knock at the door.

She heard to door open and Ned's voice in the hall. She sat on the end of the bed in hopes of hearing their conversation but only heard mumbling through the door. She heard the door close and Olive came into the bedroom, sitting next to Chuck.

"Are you gonna tell me what he did? Did he beat you?"

"No."

"Did he look like he wanted to beat you? 'Cause I swear to god if he lays a hand on you-"

"Olive."

Is it over? Between you and him? No more buddy buddy?"

"I don't know. I'm just…digesting."

"Well you can stay here until you pass whatever it is you're digesting."

"Thank you. And please don't tell him where I am."

Olive looked at her hands nervously, scooting closer to Chuck and placed a hand over hers, "Look, I know this is none of my business. But I have so many questions tugging at my tongue as to why you faked your death. And I just felt like I needed to respect your privacy on this issue-"

"I appreciate that."

"But I'm not gonna respect your privacy right now. I care about you, Chuck. And I'm worried about you. Why'd you fake your death? Is this an insurance scam? Are you and the Pie Maker in some kinda cahoots together?"

Chuck sighed. She loved Olive and she desperately wanted her to know about her…situation.

"I died. He brought me back to life."

Olive looked taken back for a moment before the hurt flooded her face, "If you don't wanna tell me just say so. I just thought that it would be nice to know why your girlfriend is in hiding."

"Olive-"

"I'm goin' to your aunts later. Now that you're avoiding Ned I guess you won't be making them a pie. Want me to grab one off the rack?"

Chuck wanted to explain everything to her, but obviously she didn't want to tlalk about it.

"Would you mind terribly making it from scratch? I like it a certain way."

"Whatever way you've been makin' them is doing the trick. The mermaids are swimming."

"They're back in the water?"

"Vivian told me. Lily doesn't want me to know. Thinks I'll gloat. So I'm pretending not to…I'm pretending not to know a lot these days."

The last sentence broke Chuck's heart, "Olive-"

"Pear with gru 'er baked into the crust?"

"Mhm. And I add extra vanilla. It's my secret ingredient. Lily loves vanilla."

"You got it," Olive said kissing Chuck lightly.

She watched the blonde go into the bathroom, listening to the shower start. She wanted to Olive to know so badly. She loved her, she wanted to share everything with her. She wanted to know all her quirks and likes and dislikes. She could also tell that the small waitress was hurt by the truth she thought was a lie.

"Olive," Chuck said as she walked out of the restroom, completely dressed, "About my death-"

"Chuck," Olive interrupted, "you obviously don't wanna tell me. So it's fine. Just drop it."

"Olive, I do want to tell you-"

"Honey, you just went through an awful lot of trouble making that lie up. So it's obviously something you don't want to share with me."

"Olive!"

"I'll see you later," Olive said briskly, kissing her briefly before walking out the door. Chuck sighed. Not only was she dealing with the problem with Ned, but now Olive thought she was lying to her. How could she have let things get this messed up?

She got dressed slowly, mudding around the apartment until Olive came back. But Olive was at her aunts, so she knew it would be a while until she came back. So she wandered out of the house around the city. She had somehow found herself at the graveyard, sitting by her father's grave. Chuck missed him, more than anything. She felt the tears begin to fall, chilling her skin against the cold winter air.

Ned came from around a headstone, "Chuck?"

"There's no headstone for me yet, we wait a year," she said, "How'd you know I was here?"

"Because I've been everywhere else first."

"I feel better. I don't hate you anymore." Ned smiled thankfully.

"I have an idea," the dead Girl said wiping the snow off of her father's name on his headstone.

"No."

"I thought for one minute."

"I'm not gonna bring him back just so you can watch me kill him again. I can't do that to you. I won't"

Chuck's tears fell harder. She wanted desperately to be held right now, to be comforted. But Ned couldn't touch her and Olive was miles away. They were silent on the ride back home, the glass separating them. When she got back to Olive's apartment, the blonde was sitting on the couch.

"Chuck, I was worried about you," she said. She looked at her differently for some reason, but Chuck ignored it. Instead she walked over to her and climbed into her arms. "I love you so much, Olive" she said through tears, "I want to explain everything to you. Everything."

Olive shushed her and smoothed back her hair, "We'll talk about it in the morning." Chuck nodded. Holding her face in her hands, Olive kissed Chuck passionately before pulling back and resting their foreheads against each other. "I love you, Chuck," Olive said quietly, "And I just want you to share things with me."

Chuck nodded, her heart overflowing with happiness and sadness simultaneously. They kissed again, Chuck's tongue running on Olive's lower lip for entrance. She complied massaging her tongue with her own as Chuck pushed her down on the couch. Chuck began to unbutton Olive's top.

"Chuck," the blonde said holding her hands, "Are you sure you want to do this? After everythin-"

Chuck silenced her with a kiss, pulling her hands free and resting them on her hips, "Make love to me." The blonde nodded wordlessly and let Chuck continue to unbutton her top, letting it fall to the ground silently. She sat up and got off the couch, pulling Chuck to the bedroom after her. She gently laid Chuck down on the bed and crawled on top of her slowly. Olive stroked her face, kissing her wordlessly.

The brunette let Olive undo her dress and pull it off of her smoothly, placing it at the end of the bed. Both completely undressed, Olive just lay on top of Chuck, kissing her tenderly, "Are you sure?"

Chuck simply rolled them over so she was on top and began kissing down Olive's body, leaving wet marks in her wake. The combination of the cold and her arousal made Olive's nipples hard. Chuck swirled her tongue around one, taking the other between her fingers. She continued kissing down her body, stopping at her hips.

"Chuck," Olive said in a strangled moan. She crawled back up her, looking in her eyes. She kissed her passionately, all the feeling she had coming out into that kiss. Pulling away, she kissed her neck, licking and sucking at the pulse point. Her hand tangled in blonde curls as she cupped Olive's center.

"Chuck," Olive moaned again. "What is it, love?" Chuck asked against her neck. "I love you," Olive breathed. "I love you too," Chuck said entering her at the same time. Olive arched off of the bed as Chuck began a pace. A shaky hand made it's way to Chuck's center, entering her quickly. The two women thrust into each other, their paces matching. Chuck pressed her thumb to the bundle of nerve above Olive's opening and she fell apart under her, screaming Chuck's name. She curled her fingers and Chuck came right afterwards. Their moans tangled in the cold winter air as Chuck collapsed on Olive's shaking body.

The brunette kissed her face over and over again. "I love you," she kept whispering over and over again. "I love you so much." She was only silenced when Olive tangled her hands in her hair and kissed her. Chuck pulled the comforter over them and snuggled into Olive's tiny form. Kissing her neck lightly. "Thank you," she said before drifting into sleep.


	15. Between the Days III

Sorry I haven't updated in a while! I've been uber busy. But I am now getting back to it, I promise! Next chap in a day or so. Thanks again for the great reviews!!!!! I love you guys!!! Enjoy!

**Between the Days III**

A couple of months passed. Chuck forgave Ned for the accidental killing of her father, though she did miss him, the pain of losing him suddenly fresh. Her and Olive's relationship was thriving. They became more enthralled with each other everyday. Neither Chuck nor Olive brought up the subject of the brunette's death again, but it was always there, just below the surface. In her mind, Chuck had told Olive several times with various results. Ranging from overwhelming acceptance to complete denial and rejection.

Chuck wanted to explain everything to Olive. _Needed_ to explain everything to Olive. She couldn't stand the idea of her girlfriend thinking she was hiding something from her. The blonde had been acting strange lately. Whenever Chuck brought up her mother or said something about mothers, Olive would start rambling nervously and find every excuse to leave the room. She didn't know what had prompted this strange behavior, but it was on the backburner for Chuck as she tried to find the opportunity to explain her circumstances to Olive.

"All my bees died," Chuck said to Ned when they were in the kitchen one day, "the frost killed them all."

"I know," the Pie Maker answered rolling out dough, "I was thinking of touching them."

"Really? That would be really sweet of you," Chuck said smiling. Suddenly the gears started turning in her head. This would be the perfect opportunity to demonstrate everything to Olive.

"Hey, Ned," Chuck said nonchalantly. "Yeeees," Ned said. "I've been wanting to tell Olive about…you know," Chuck said pointing a finger.

"What? Why?"

"Because I want to tell her. Well, I already told her. But she didn't believe me. So I want to demonstrate it."

"So you want her to watch when I zap hundreds of your bees back to life?"

"Yes."

"I just don't want her to freak out and go to the daily news that she's dating a dead girl."

"She already knows I died. She just thinks I faked my death. She hasn't told anyone about that."

"Chuck-"

"Ned. Please. I love Olive, and I really need to share this with her."

Ned sighed and looked down at his hands, "Fine," she said quietly.

"Thank you!" Chuck said bouncing on her heels, "If I could hug you right now I would."

"I know."

That night, Olive and Chuck were watching television on the couch, dinner sitting in take out containers on the coffee table in Olive's apartment. Olive was leaning against the brunette's chest and holding two fortune cookies in her hand. "Pick one," she said holding them in front of her face. Chuck picked one up and looked at it, "Olive," she said.

"Mhm," Olive said opening up her cookie.

"I need to talk to you."

"Okay," she said distractedly as she attempted to pull the fortune from the cookie.

"Can you put down the cookie, please?" Chuck said not unkindly.

Olive complied, setting it on her plate and turning to face Chuck, "I'm sorry. Continue."

Chuck sighed, "I wanted to talk to you about you thinking I faked my death."

Olive twitched uncomfortably, "Chuck-"

"No, I need to explain," Chuck said taking her hands, "I did die. Ned brought me back to life."

"By…what? Heimlich? CPR?"

"With his finger."

"What?"

"Ned can touch things, dead things, and make them come back to life."

Olive looked blankly at Chuck, "What?"

"He can touch things that are dead and make them alive again. But only for a minute or else something else has to die. And if he touches them again then they're dead again. Forever. That's why we don't touch."

"You said you couldn't touch because of a food allergy."

"I lied. If he touched me again, I die."

"Charlotte Charles, if you're lying to me-"

"I'm not! I swear. I love you too much to lie to you."

Olive looked at her hands, "I love you too," she said quietly, "That's why it would hurt so much if you were lying to me."

"I'm not. And I can prove it."

"Really?"

"Yes. Tomorrow Ned is going to bring my bees back to life. And he said you could watch so you would believe me."

"Oh, Chuck," Olive sighed, "If I didn't love you so much I would think you were off your rocker."

"I know," the brunette chuckled kissing Olive lightly, "I'm just glad you're taking it so well. I thought you'd run out of the room screaming."

"No. This movie is good, I wanna see the end."

"Don't lie. It's 'cause you love me."

"Mmhm. Whatever."

Chuck leaned forward and kissed Olive lightly before she settled back into the taller woman's chest, picking up her fortune cookie once more. "What does your fortune say?"

Olive pulled the paper free from the hard dough, "It says; 'Today, you'll learn something new about someone you care about.'"

The blonde laughed and Chuck joined her, kissing the shell of her ear. When their laughter subdued, Olive placed her head on Chuck's chest and closed her eyes.

"What are you doing? You're going to miss the end of the movie," Chuck said. Olive shushed her, "I'm listening to your heartbeat," she replied quietly, "Just making sure you're really here."

Chuck kissed the top of Olive's head and tilted her chin upward. She brought their faces close and whispered, "I'm right here, Love." Olive smiled and brought their lips together, the flash of the television illuminating their bodies.


	16. Bzzzzzzzzz!

**Oker. The next part. Thanks for all the amazing reviews guys!!!!! It means sooooo much to me. I'm glad you all like this! It makes it all worth while. Love ya'll! Enjoy this chap. And please keep on reviewing!!!**

**Bzzzzzzzzzzzz!**

The next morning, Chuck awoke full of energy, remembering Ned's promise. She looked over at the bed next to her to see Ned still sleeping. So she quickly got up and got dressed.

"Ned," she called pulling on her shoe. The Pie Maker stirred but continued sleeping. "Ned!" she called again. Wanting a response, she threw her pillow at him, awaking him with a start.

"Wh-what's wrong?" he said sitting up quickly. "Nothing" Chuck said chuckling, "Get up. Today's the day."

"What are you talking about?"

"You're bringing my bees back, remember?"

"Oh, yeah."

"So come on, get up. I'm gonna go get Olive."

Chuck bounced out of the apartment and went next door, knocking on the door. Olive answered quickly, already dressed.

"Good morning, beautiful," Chuck said kissing Olive lightly. The blonde smiled weakly and closed the door behind her as she walked into the hall. "Are you okay?" Chuck asked rubbing her back.

Olive nodded, "Just feeling a little…nervous." She held the petite woman close and led her up to the roof. Ned was already up there, looking around nervously, "Hello, Chuck. Olive."

"Thanks again for doing this, Ned," Chuck said getting her bee suit. "I think this would work better if there's more skin for the bees to touch," Chuck said matter-of-factly.

"Wh-what?" Ned stuttered.

"Strip," Chuck said jokingly. Ned looked at the women nervously before slipping his shirt off. "Don't worry, we won't look," Chuck said, "Here, I'll even strip to make you feel better." Both Ned and Olive blushed fervently as Chuck began to unzip her dress. When both Ned and Chuck were standing across from each other in their underwear.

Chuck pointed at his socks, "Like I said, I think this'll go better if you wear less clothes."

"You've already got me shucked like an ear of corn."

"Well I'm shucked too! All the way down to my silky intimates. All just to put on a bee keeping suit."

"Remind me again why you're shucked."

"I just thought it would be fair," Chuck said before pulling the bee-keeping suit up her body. She held it at her waist and walked over to Olive.

"You sit over here," Chuck said taking Olive near the door to the roof, "I don't want you to get stung."

Olive nodded, looking sick to her stomach. Chuck cupped her cheek, "Hey, look at me. What's wrong?"

"I'm just kinda nervous I guess."

"It's fine," Chuck said kissing her forehead, "everything will be fine."

Chuck finished putting on the suit and walked over to the first hive. "This is very very sweet of you," Chuck said to Ned as he stood before her.

"And will probably sting."

"Well don't offend the bees."

"How would I offend the bees?"

Without answering, Chuck poured the dead bees over Olive's shoulder, and they spilled onto him before regaining life, flying into the day sky. Chuck looked over at Olive as the bees came back to life. the blondes eyes got big and her mouth hung open in disbelief as she watched the tiny bees flying around her with new life. Chuck shook the last bee out of the hive.

Setting down the hive, she took off her helmet and walked over to Olive who was still in shock staring at Ned.

"Olive?" she asked quietly.

"Oh my," the blonde said before passing out. Chuck caught her and held her up. "Ned," Chuck said picking the blonde up, "I think I should take her to her apartment."

He nodded, "I'll just finish touching them."

Chuck took Olive to her apartment and laid her down on the bed. The blonde began to stir and Chuck took her hand. "Are you okay?" Chuck asked smoothing her hair from her face. Olive sat up, "Water," she said dryly.

The brunette hurriedly fetched her some water and handed it to Olive, who gulped it down fiercely. "So…do you believe me now?" Chuck asked quietly.

Olive looked at her, something coming over her face. "Yes. And I'm guessing this is a secret I have to keep."

Chuck nodded, "Yes, if it got out, who knows what would happen."

"Secrets, more secrets," Olive said quietly. "What secrets?" Chuck asked.

"I have all these secrets I have to keep. I'm over flowing with secrets," Olive said her voice rising, "Secrets, secrets, secrets! I can't stand anymore secrets!" She swung her legs off the bed.

"Olive, can we talk about this?"

"No! No talking! If I talk anymore secrets might spill out!"

The small blonde walked quickly out of the room and down the stairs, Chuck following. Olive was in the Pie Hole, waiting on tables vigorously. "What's wrong with Olive?" Ned said as Chuck sat on a stool.

"She won't talk to me," Chuck said moodily, "I don't know what's wrong."

"Trouble in paradise?" Emerson said taking a sip of coffee.

"No! No trouble. Just…set back."

"Told you she wasn't dead," came a voice from the door. Turning around, Chuck saw her aunts and made a beeline for the kitchen, Emerson covering her from behind. She huddled in the corner and the Detective covered her so she could not be seen. She heard a conversation going on in the dining room but couldn't make out the exact words being spoken.

Olive came walking into the kitchen and Emerson motioned her over to where he was hiding Chuck, who poked her head out, "They came because you stopped delivering their special pies! All this time I've been making special pies and what have you-"

"And dosing them with god knows what it is you claim I don't know but that ain't vanilla!"

Emerson rolled his eyes, "I don't know what you two are talking about. But you better shut the fudge up."

Olive looked at Chuck once more before picking up the pie that was made for Chuck's aunts and walked it into the dining room. Chuck climbed on Emerson's back and he covered her with his jacket so they could try and get away from the aunts when Olive began to yell:

"I've got something to say! Ima say it to you, and you and you and your hump!"

Chuck began to panic, this was it, Olive was going to spew the secret to her aunt, but instead, she screamed. When she was done, everyone just stared at her. "What's gotten into you?" Ned asked.

"I am a sawed off shot gun full of secrets."

"Did she say she was armed."

"No, I don't have a gun. I am a gun! A any moment, truth buckshot could come spewing out of my muzzle. Look out!"

"That's enough!" Lily and Ned said simultaneously.

"Truer words were never spoken. This rifle is gonna, go away in her little satin lined case with the trigger locked and the safety on. I quit! I'm quiting! This, and, you know, all of this!" Olive said throwing napkins in the air and gesturing wildly.

"Olive," Vivian said, "you don't have to quit, you just have to calm down. You wanna drink? Lily, hand me your purse."

"I'm not thirsty," Olive said before turning around to face Ned, "I'm tendering my resignation. I'm resigning my tenders."

"You can't just leave," Ned said sadly.

"Vivian, go wait outside," Lily said pointing towards the door.

"But-"

"Haven't you cause enough trouble?"

"This is your home. Where will you go?" Ned asked Olive who didn't answer.

"I can think of a place," Lily said smugly.

Chuck was frozen helplessly on Emerson's back, tears flowing from her eyes. She had pushed Olive, she had told her too much. And now she was quitting, leaving. Emerson walked her up to her apartment and she want into it without a word, collapsing on her bed.

The Dead Girl wanted to be able to take everything back. She should have broken everything to her slowly, not at one time like she did. She sat in the darkness, pondering the events of the day when she heard the door open. Olive came walking into the room, squinting as her eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"Hey," she said quietly. Chuck sat up on the bed, "Hey. What are you doing here? Not that I don't want you here. I was just wondering what brought you here and feel free to stop me at any second."

Olive sat on the bed next to Chuck, "I came to apologize."

"You have nothing to apologize for. I should be the one apologizing."

"No. Let me talk. I really went off on you today. One the entire Pie Hole, actually. And I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I'm just…stressed I guess."

"It's okay. I shouldn't have just sprung everything on you like that. I really shouldn-"

Olive put her finger over Chuck's lips. "Let's not talk about all that. Okay?" Chuck nodded, kissing the pad of the blonde's finger.

"I have to go away for a while," Olive said quietly.

"What? Why? Where are you going?"

"I don't know. I'm not sure. But I'll be back. I promise."

"You're leaving me?" Chuck asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"It's not what I wanted. I don't want to leave," Olive said cupping her face and wiping her tears with her thumb, "But please understand. I have to go."

Chuck nodded, tears still falling. Olive had begun to cry as well when she took Chuck in her arms. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," she said into her lover's hair. "I'm sorry," Chuck said back. They lay on the bad together, just holding each other tightly. Ned had come in, but when she saw the women on the bed, he left them to their privacy.

"Chuck," Olive said as she stroked her hair, "I love you. I will always love you."

"I love you too," she answered nuzzling her face into Olive's neck. The two women fell asleep in each other's arms, whispering "I love you" to the other throughout the night.

Chuck awoke in the morning, feeling empty, she reached towards the other side of the bed looking for Olive. When she saw she wasn't there, she sat up and looked around the room. She hurried over to the other apartment still looking desperately for Olive. Instead she found a note on the coffee table: "Chuck, I'm sorry I had to leave like this. The lease to the apartment is paid until the end of the year. I'll come back to you. I promise. Love, Olive."

Tears began to flow from Chuck's eyes once more and she sat down on the couch. Looking around the apartment, it seemed empty without the blonde's presence. Much like her own heart.


	17. Circus Circus

**Okie Dokie. Here's the next chapter. Little short. And a little less cholivey. But the next chapter is better. Sooooooooooo here! Thanks for the great reviews guys! Enjoy!**

**Grumbello: Thanks for pointing out that blaringly obvious mistake. If you go back, you can see I fixed it. I obviously don't proofread anything. I just write and post. So if you see any more mistakes, please tell me. Thanks again, oh loyal reviewer!**

**Circus Circus**

With Olive's pillow hugged tight to her chest, Chuck did not leave the petite woman's bed. She had been there for two days straight already. Refusing to eat and hardly sleeping at all. Simply staring blankly at the wall and crying, inhaling the scent of her girlfriends pillow. But even the scent of lavender had begun to fade as Chuck clung to it.

"Chuck," Ned said on one of his many routine visits to the apartment, "you need to get out. You need to eat." Chuck just shook her head, "I can't."

"Yes, you can."

"No. I'm too depressed."

"Olive wouldn't want you to just sit her pining."

"How do you know? How do you know what she would want?"

"I know she loves you. And I know this is not what you want someone you love to do. Lie here wasting away."

"I don't want to get up."

"Girl, you betta get your ass up," Emerson said coming through the door.

"Emerson?" Chuck asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I came to make sure you get outta this bed and salvage what bit of sanity you have left."

"I can't. I'm too depressed."

"I'm guessing you're depressed because of a certain blonde girl. And so maybe, just maybe, you wouldn't be depressed if you got outta the place that reminds you of her. Constantly."

"I miss her."

"Maybe baking some pies and serving some customers while Pie Boy and his magic finger here go solve a case would make you feel better."

"Is that the only reason you came here?" Chuck said sitting up slightly peeved, "To get me to take over the Pie Hole while you two go off?"

Emerson looked like he was pondering for a second before answering, "Yes."

"Why can't you just close it?"

"Because Pie Boy here won't leave here with you all mopey like. So unless you get your ass down there he won't leave."

Chuck's heart softened at Ned's compassion for her. Looking around her, she noticed the imprint on the bed outlining where she had been laying for the past few days and cringed.

"I really have been pathetic, haven't I?" she said to herself.

"Yes," Emerson said. She glared at him and clutched the pillow tighter. "Fine," she whispered.

"Thank you," the Detective said, "Now go get yourself cleaned up. You look like crap." Ned and Emerson left the bedroom and Chuck cautiously stood up, clutching the side of the bed as her legs got accustomed to standing once more. Once she steadied herself, she hugged her pillow tighter before setting it back down in the bed. She smoothed it out and made sure it was placed just right. After she finished showering and dressing, Chuck headed down to the Pie Hole where Emerson and Ned were sitting at their usual booth.

Even though she was out of Olive's apartment, thoughts of Olive would not leave her head. Whenever she saw a blonde, she would turn her head, causing some minor whiplash in some cases. She also found that she was rude to many of the customers. Unintentionally of course.

"Where can I find a menu?" one unsuspecting customer asked.

"On the big pile of menus," was Chuck's curt response. The rest of that day was that same general pattern. Ned and Emerson went on chasing clowns, returning late in the night, looking exhausted and slightly perturbed as usual.

With a heavy sigh that night, she returned to the vacated apartment that once housed Olive Snook. Only to find Ned standing before her. "I did a little bit of…redecorating. To make you feel better. Hopefully," he said with his hands shoved in his pockets. Looking around the apartment, Chuck noticed that her old bookcase and desk from her aunts' house was in a corner of the room. Her books still shoved haphazardly into the overstuffed shelves.

"Since I figured you were going to live here now, I thought having your books and stuff might take your mind off of missing Olive."

Once more tears welled up in the brunette's eyes. Tears of happiness mixed with tears of sadness. "Thank you, Ned," she said tearfully.

"Oh, no. I didn't mean for this to make you sad. I meant for this to cheer you up. I'm sorry. I'll take it away if you wan-"

"No!" Chuck said choking on her tears, "This did make me happy. So very happy. Thank you. So much."

Ned nodded, still slightly distressed by Chuck's tears, "Do you need anything?" he asked.

"No," she said wiping away tears, "You've given me more than enough."

He nodded again. Walking out the door, he looked at her one more time, "If you need anything…"

"I know where to go."

After Ned left, Chuck went over to her bookcase, running her fingers along the spines lovingly, a thin coat of dust coming off on her fingers. One book, a romance mystery novel with a particularly used looking spine, caught her attention. She remembered this book, it used to be her favorite. Taking it out, she settled into the couch and opened it.

"Olive would like this book," she thought as she began to read. She would have to remember to let her borrow it when she came back. The words tugged at Chuck's heart.

_When she came back_.

"She is coming back," she said quietly to herself, "she promised." A tear she didn't notice escape her eye fell onto the book and she quickly wiped it away. "She's coming back."


	18. Bad Habits

**Okay then. I'm probably going to hell for this chapter…just saying…trust me…you'll see. Lol. Thanks for the reviews! Keep on reviewing please!**

**Bad Habits**

As the days passes, Chuck's heart still ached with longing and sorrow for Olive. But she had gotten better at hiding her feelings. She had found various ways of distracting herself. And one of them came to her while she was digging through the drawers of her old desk.

"I'm going to finish my family tree," Chuck explained to Ned when she handed him her unfinished school project. Ned looked slightly sick at this prospect, but let her have her distractions. There was a knock at the door and Chuck answered.

"Is Pie Boy here?" Emerson asked. Chuck stepped aside, letting the knitting Detective in.

"How did I know I'd find you here?" he asked not waiting for an answer, "Never mind. I just got a case I thought you would find interesting." He said to Chuck.

"What?"

"I think you better wait 'til we get there for you to know the exact details," Emerson said, "So come on."

Chuck was out the door before Emerson could even finish the sentence. She wasn't exactly sure what the case was about, but she needed more distractions and the prospect of this case excited her for some reason. When Emerson sat in the drivers seat he reached into the back and handed an outfit to Ned and Chuck.

"You're gonna need this," he said to them.

"A priest costume?" Ned asked perplexed.

"You have no idea," Emerson sighed as he started the car and headed for their destination. When they arrived at the monastery, Chuck looked around, "What am I supposed to find interesting about this case? Better question, what _is_ this case?"

"Patience is a virtue," he said straightening his priest collar, "now come on." The Detective led the Dead Girl and the Pie Maker up the stairs of a bell tower. When they finally reached the top, Chuck looked around, peering around the bell. She saw a small figure that she recognized immediately.

"Olive?"

"Chuck?" the tiny woman squeaked.

Chuck rushed over to Olive, gathering her in her arms. Her heart felt as if it would burst with delight, feeling the tiny frame in her arms once more. Olive seemed hesitant at first, but then wrapped her arms around her. "I missed you so much," Chuck said through tears. She could feel Olive's tears soaking through the thick fabric of her habit and squeezed her tight.

"Never never never leave me again," the brunettes said showering Olive's face with light kisses. Suddenly, Olive froze and moved away from Chuck.

"O-oh, I'm sorry. I don't know you," she said unconvincingly. "Olive," Chuck said pleadingly.

"We're under cover," Emerson said to Chuck, "blondie has a point."

"But-"

"I'm going to go confess now. In the confession booth," Olive said, her head twitching towards the door, "Although I will probably be confessing to myself because Father Joe plays bridge at this time."

Olive backed down the bell tower steps, her never leaving Chuck's. "Oh. Oh!" Chuck said in realization, "Um. I'm going to…to look around."

Emerson looked up and down at her, "Mmhm. This is a convent. Show some respect, will you?"

"Yeah, okay," Chuck said going down the stairs.

"Remember," Emerson bellowed after her, "Under cover! So stay under your covers!"

Chuck followed Olive to the confession booth, looking around before entering after her. Olive put her finger over her mouth and listened intently, and only when she confirmed that they were alone did she hug Chuck. The two women clung to each other like the other would disappear if they let go. "Can I kiss you now?" Chuck asked quietly. Olive said nothing, just pressed her lips against the brunettes in a bruising kiss.

The taller woman moaned, relishing the contact she had been missing. Her hands found their way to the blonde's waist, shoving her against the wall. Olive whimpered as Chuck's lips moved down her jaw and to her neck, sucking lightly and leaving a red mark on her slender neck. Olive's hands trembled as they traveled up the Dead Girl's front, stopping just below Chuck's breasts and pushing her away.

"Olive, what's wrong?" Chuck asked gasping for air, lips swollen. "We're in the house of God," Olive said crossing herself. "Olive, we're alone," Chuck said taking a step towards her. The blonde stepped back, "One is never alone in the house of God. Can we just talk?"

Chuck sighed, slightly hurt by the rejection, "Yeah. Okay."

"Let's get out of here."

The two women exited the confessional and sat in the pew of the church, Chuck adjusting her veil. "So," Chuck started, "Why'd you leave?"

Olive's hands fidgeted in her lap, "I had to."

"Why?" Chuck said frustrated.

"I just did."

"Olive!," several nuns hushed her near by and the two continued in hushed whispers, "You just up and let in the middle of the night! You didn't tell me where you went, and how long you would be gone! You just left!"

"I'm sorry."

"Stop apologizing! That's all you do is apologize! I need you to explain to me why you left! Was it because of me? Did I do something? Was it my secret?"

"It wasn't you. It was everything. I have secrets that I need to keep and I couldn't trust myself being around you. I couldn't risk blabbing my secret and hurting you."

"What is it, Olive?"

"I can't tell you."

"Yes, you can. Please."

"No. I promised I wouldn't tell. I can't hurt you."

"Olive-"

"No!"

Chuck looked at Olive for a while, hurt on her face, "Fine. I guess I just thought we were in an open relationship where we told each other things, which is why I told you about me being not dead. But I guess I was wrong."

"Chuck, please."

"I have a case to solve. I better go."

Chuck continued to avoid Olive the rest of the day. She realized the irony in this since she had spent the past few weeks pining over her and imagining they were together again. But she couldn't face her right now. She couldn't face the prospect of the idea that she was keeping a secret from her. And she especially couldn't handle the fact that the reason Olive was here was because of her.

She was passing a room when he heard Emerson's deep voice being juxtaposed by a tiny voice that had to be Olive's. Her heart told her to keep walking…but her mind and curiosity told her to eavesdrop. Hiding behind the door frame, she strained her ears to hear their conversation.

"I had specific specifications for this case," she heard Olive say, "Guidelines, if you will. And you went and broke every single one of them."

"What are you talking about?" Emerson said, annoyance dripping from his voice.

"Why'd you bring them here? You said you wouldn't."

"I need Pie Boy's special skill set. And Pie Girl comes with Pie Boy."

"Why couldn't you just leave Chuck at home? I can't face her. I don't want to hurt her. I love her too much."

"Well then just explain everything to her."

"It's not that easy. Okay? I can't tell her, because I don't want to hurt her. But by not telling her, I'm hurting her. This is all so complicated."

"No. You're making it more complicated then it should be. Why don't you jus' tell your girl what you need to tell her?"

"It's not that easy."

Chuck snuck back into the hall, away from the room, wondering what the secret that Olive was trying so desperately trying to keep from her was. But at the same time tried to keep her mind off of it as she talked to Mother Superior. Pondering the secrets Olive was hiding and the future of their relationship, she wondered up to the bell tower. Realizing that the bells were stainless steel and didn't need the polishing that the murdered Sister claimed to be polishing everyday. She pulled a rope that was hanging from the ceiling and noticed that a laboratory table came out of the wall. That's when she noticed the white truffles, and suddenly the whole case fell into place. But before she could celebrate, she was pushed off the tower by Pigby. She clung to the side of the building, her heart palpitating in her chest.

Surprisingly calm, Chuck pondered her second life and what she had accomplished. She realized that the most significant thing in her life, was Olive. Falling in love was the most important thing in life, and she had fallen. Very hard. Even harder then the fall she was about to take off the tower. And this, for her, was enough.

Although she did find herself wishing that she could clear everything up with Olive, telling her she wanted to spend the rest of her second life with her. She imagined holding Olive tightly, kissing her sweetly. She could smell the lavender of her skin, feeling the softness under her hands. She imagined her golden hair, silky between her fingers. And her voice, oh, her voice. She could almost hear it ringing in her ears. But then she realized, she was hearing Olive's panicked voice call out to her.

"Chuck!" she called out, grasping her slipping hands, "I gotcha. Chuck! I'm so sorry I was cold! I didn't want to hurt you! And now you're still gonna be hurt! And I'm going to lose the only person I've truly loved!"

"Oh," Olive said, breathing heavily from clutching to the cement, "Thank you so much for saying that! It means a lot to me."

Chuck felt her hands slip from Olive's grip, "I'm slipping! I'm slipping!"

Olive braced herself on the side of the bell tower, "Pull, Pigby! Pull!" Chuck felt herself being pulled back up to the top of the bell tower and over the side, safely on the ground.

"Olive!" Chuck said pulling her into a hug. Olive returned the hug, holding her tightly, "Oh, Chuck. I thought I was going to lose you."

"I'm not going anywhere," Chuck said into her neck, kissing it lightly, "I wish I could really kiss you right now, but God is watching."

"Oh, he can close his eyes," Olive said before kissing her. Chuck sighed, memorizing the feeling of Olive's lips against her own. Chuck pulled away suddenly, "I figured out who the murderer was," she said walking over to the truffles, not noticing when a heavy bell knocked Olive over the ledge, sending her hurtling towards the ground.

"Olive! Olive!" she said running towards the edge, but she was too late, there was no way to save Olive. But luckily, Ned pulled a hay cart under Olive, saving her. After hugs and tears of joy, the investigators and the two women made their way back home. The whole car ride back, Chuck would not let Olive go, holding her hand tightly in fear she might disappear again. As soon as they got back to the apartments, Chuck could hardly trust herself not to ravish Olive in the hall, holding her waist and kissing her neck as she fumbled with the key.

"Chuck," Olive chuckled unlocking the door, "we're in the hall." Chuck said nothing, just continued to kiss her neck. Just as Olive opened the door and the brunette was getting ready to push her through the door, Ned came up behind her.

"Chuck," he said making her jump, "I need to talk to you."

"Can't it wait?" she whined.

"No," he said quickly, "I would prefer if we talked now. I want to talk to you about your family tree."

Ned glanced at Olive and they shared a knowing look. "I think you should go," Olive said squeezing her girlfriend's hand. Chuck nodded, realizing it was important. So with a chaste kiss, Chuck let go of Olive grudgingly and followed Ned to the roof.

She sat on the edge and Ned stood before her, hands in his pockets nervously as he began to prattle.

"I don't exactly know how to tip toe around this or sugar coat it so I'm just going to say it. Lily's your mother."

Chuck focused on her feet, tears welling in her eyes. This was what Olive was hiding from her. This was why she could never finish her family tree. Her mother, someone she thought she would never know, was actually one of the people she knew best. It seemed a part of her heart that was missing was finally filled.

"Are you okay?" Ned began, "Your expression is kinda hard to read. Maybe you could, you know…look at me?" Chuck looked up and Ned closed his eyes, "Tears," he said.

"Happy ones," she responded.

"So you took that news and chose to make it good? That's inspiring. Here," he said handing her the old family tree and a pencil, "I thought you might want to finish it."

Chuck smiled and took it, filing in Lily's name where her mother's name belonged. "Thank you for telling me, Ned," she said wiping her tears away.

"Well, you can thank Olive for discovering it in the first place," Ned said, "she just couldn't tell you because Lily told her specifically not to tell anyone."

"She is great a keeping secrets," Chuck smiled.

"Speaking of Olive," Ned said clearing his throat nervously, "you two seemed like you were going to do some reacquainting up there. And I'm sure she's waiting for you."

Chuck nodded enthusiastically, blushing slightly. They walked back up to the apartments and said their good nights. Walking into Olive's apartment, Chuck noticed the lights were off and the room was only lit by candles on the coffee table.

"Olive?" she called out, looking for her petite girlfriend. Olive came out of the kitchen, "You haven't been keeping stocked up have you? The only thing in the fridge is take out from before I left."

"Yeah, well."

"That's okay, I borrowed some of Ned's food while you two were out," Olive said setting down a pie on the coffee table with a bottle of wine. Only when Chuck's stomach grumbled did she realize how hungry she was.

Olive handed her a plate with a piece of pie on it and the Dead Girl took it gratefully. The blonde settled in next to her on the couch and began eating her own piece of pie. "Mm, I forgot how much I missed this pie," Olive said, "after all that bread and water at the nunnery, you'd think you were in prison."

Chuck looked at the woman, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Olive said through a mouth of pie.

"For getting mad at you for not telling me the secret. I realize now why you couldn't tell me."

"It's okay."

"No, it's not."

"Yes. It is," Olive said firmly, putting her hands over Chuck's. They leaned in for a kiss, pie plates bumping together. Laughing, they set them down on the table and resumed their kisses. They lay on the couch for a few minutes before Olive broke the kiss, "Maybe we should take this somewhere more comfortable?" she suggested, raising an eyebrow. Chuck nodded feverishly, not sure how much longer the burn in her lower stomach could be ignored, so she rushed to the bedroom, pulling the blonde with her. She fell on the bed, causing Olive to fall on top of her in a fit of giggles.

Chuck drew Olive's bottom lip into her mouth, sucking lightly before nipping her lip, causing her to gasp. Olive slipped her tongue into Chuck's mouth and she groaned in delight. They began slowly, memorizing every inch of each other, hands roaming bodies shamelessly. Clothes ended up on the floor and they lay bare besides each other, facing the other. Chuck rubbed Olive's back, her other hand cupping her cheek. "I missed you so much," she said resting her forehead against Olive's. "You have no idea," Olive said rolling on top of Chuck and sucking on her neck, making sure she left a mark before kissing down her body. The cold air chilled the spots on her skin where Olive's kissed left wet marks and she shivered in anticipation.

Her stomach muscles tensed as Olive's tongue circled her belly button. "Olive," she whispered, tangling her hands in blonde hair. The other woman grinned against her skin as she kissed lower, kissing her inner thigh, starting at her knee and working slowly upwards, getting dangerously close to Chuck's dripping center. The brunette whimpered, moving her hips in an attempt to make contact with Olive's mouth.

Olive moved away, much to Chuck's chagrin. "Please, Olive," she whimpered. Olive lowered her mouth to her center, running her tongue over her opening lightly. A moan sprang from her lips as she thrust her hips in attempt to make more contact. The blonde thrust her tongue into her lover, causing her to arch off the bed. She began a pace, Chuck pushing her head down allowing her tongue to go further. Olive used her small fingers to rub the bundle of nerves before the Dead Girl's opening, causing her to moan louder.

"Olive," she moaned loudly, feeling the end coming. She thrust harder, and so did Olive, pressing firmly at the sensitive spot above her opening, causing her to spill over the edge. Her mind clouded over in ecstasy, incoherent words tumbling from her mouth as she rode the high Olive had given her. She shivered violently and Olive held her in her arms, kissing her face over and over, keeping her from falling too far.

"I'm right here, sweetie," she whispered as Chuck settled back onto the bed her breathing ragged. "God," she whispered as she regained her breath. "Don't take the Lord's name in vain," Olive scolded wiping away the hair that was stuck to the taller woman's forehead. "You're kidding, right?" Chuck smiled, "after that you're worried about offending God by using his name inappropriately?"

Olive kissed her on the lips, "That, my dear," she said, "was making love. And there is nothing wrong with that. Passion is a gift from above."

Chuck nodded, her eyes heavy with sleep. Olive pulled the covers over them and allowed Chuck to cuddle into her. The sleepy brunette said something into her neck that she couldn't understand.

"What?" Olive asked. "I said," Chuck yawned, "I'm going to repay you in the morning. When I'm not so tired."

Olive smoothed her lover's hair, "Just being able to hold you again is payment enough." That night, they both drifted to sleep with smiles on their faces.


	19. Frescorts

**Thanks for all the great reviews, guys! I'm glad you liked the dirty nuns. Lol. Anyways. Here's the locker chapter. That was fun…okay. Enjoy! And keep on reviewin'!**

**Frescorts**

Needless to say, Chuck spent another few days holed up in Olive's apartment. But it was most definitely not because of depression. When they finally came down to the Pie Hole, hand in hand, Ned blushed and fumbled with a pie.

Emerson sauntered into the door towards the counter, spotting Olive and Chuck, he scoffed. "I see you two finally decided to fly outta your love nest," he said sarcastically as he took a sip of his coffee. Both girls flushed and smiled awkwardly.

"Rhubard," he said moodily as he sat at the counter, "the whole pie'll do." His face twitched as he caught a whiff of something in the air, "And, Momma, when you gonna treat yo'self and spring for a decent stogie?" The gang watched as the Detective mother and son engaged in a happy reunion. "Well, that's sweet," Olive said shrugging. "It's somethin'," Olive said walking into the kitchen to prepare pies. Their day went on normally, until Emerson came back.

"Come on, we're goin' somewhere," Emerson said witching the open sign to closed. "Oo, where are we going?" Olive said happily, bouncing up and down. "I'll tell ya in the car," he said bustling customers out of the restaurant. He briefed them on the details of the case, informing them they were to portray two potential employees for My Best Friend, Inc.

"Alright, everyone now what their job is?" Emerson asked as they pulled in front of the building.

"Olive and I are frescort wannabes," Chuck said, "We're on a mission to find Joe's one and only: Downey."

"Alrigh' good. Meanwhile me and Pie Man will have a sit down and chatty chat with the CEO of the company. See who Joe was pretend friending the night he died. Any questions? Okay, move out."

The group moved into the building, Chuck and Olive walking up to the front counter with their arms linked.

"Um, Barb?" Chuck said to the friendly looking girl at the counter, "My name is Kitty Pims and this is Patty Boots. We're two highly motivated candidates ready to befriend the sad and lonely."

"For pay," Olive added.

"Kitty Pims, Patty Boots," Bard sang, "What wonderfully rhythmic names. They just scream good humor and fun. Now, can you f-fake it real?"

"What?"

"On any given day clients are gonna depend of you as someone of every feeling in the book. Even if you're not feeling it. We're getting you into training!"

"Except," Chuck whispiered, "I heard this job can be kinda dangerous."

"You're referring to Joe. It's so horrible."

"Did you know him?"

"Just by name. Frescorts are forbidden to fraternize." Olive and Chuck looked at each other, dropping their arms. Bard smiled knowingly, "You two are friends, aren't you? Oops, don't answer. I can tell. Thing is you're awesome! And I wanna bring the best people into this corporation. Soo…we'll just keep things on the QT. Okay?"

"We won't even carpool," Olive said.

Later that day, Chuck and Olive were in the locker room between frescort seminars, "Okay, Ned just paged me. And he said there's no doubt that there's a Downey among us."

"I'll nose through my How To Flatter and Reinsure the Profoundly Ugly class," Olive said as her girlfriend sat next to her on the bench.

"And I got a CD Mixes That Matter Lab in five minutes. Maybe someone there will know."

"Kinship," Barb said walking into the room, "Anyone know another word for it? I'm afraid there's a 'Q' involved."

"Propinquity," Chuck said.

"Nice," Barb said holding out the paper, "Give me another."

"Oh, four down is…gilding?" Olive tried.

"I don't do the acrosses. I only do the-"

"Downs. Barb, you're Downey!" Chuck said excitedly.

"No, I'm not" Barb denied quickly.

"You're not faking anything to the contrary," Olive pointed out. Barb broke down, sitting on the bench as she bawled into her hands.

"It's okay," Chuck said trying to comfort her, "We're just trying to help. Is Downey a nickname that Joe gave you?"

"Tissue," the frescort sobbed pointing to a shelf in a locker.

Olive tried to reach it before giving up and saying to Chuck, "I can't reach that, hun." When the brunette went over to get the box, Barb came behind the women and pushed them into the open locker, locking them inside.

"Ha! Beat that, bitches!"

The two women found themselves cramped into the tiny locker, their backs pressed against each other. "Oh, god," Chuck said making a futile attempt to push the locker door open, "Why do I always get myself into these messes?"

"How is it every time I go on a case with you three I always get in some dangerous situation?" Olive breathed.

They stopped struggling, realizing there was no way to get out, so they preserved their strength. "So," Olive said drumming her fingers against the metal, "What now?"

"I guess we just wait for Ned and Emerson to find us."

"Oh. What do we to until then?"

"Too bad Barb didn't drop that crossword in here."

Olive chuckled, leading to another silence. An idea came to Chuck, and she carefully and painfully turned herself around in the locker so her front was pressed against Olive's back.

"What are you doing?" the blonde asked as Chuck wrapped her arms around her as best she could.

"I'm passing time," Chuck said her lips connecting to Olive's neck. "Chuck," Olive began to protest. But she was silenced when Chuck nipped her neck, causing her to gasp. She licked the soft skin of her neck, tasting the slight sheen of perspiration that had already begun to form on the blonde's skin, both from the close quarters and her arousal. Chuck's hands ran up the petite woman's sides, up her front to her breasts, caressing them and feeling her nipples harden beneath the pink fabric of her uniform.

She nipped at her earlobe as her hands slipped beneath the shirt, hands flat against her tan stomach. Chuck could feel her stomach muscles tense under her touch as her hands moved lower. The Dead Girl's hands moved with antagonizing slowness to the waist band of Olive's pants, one finger slipping teasingly into her pants.

Olive moaned, biting her lip in ecstasy. Smiling against her neck, Chuck undid the button and zipper of her pants and slipped her hand inside, cupping her womanhood through her already soaked panties.

"Chuck," Olive whispered, rocking against her hand the best she could in the small space they were given. Chuck's hand moved back up her body, causing Olive to whimper. But she made up for it by slipped her hand into her panties, fingers running through blonde curls.

Licking the shell of Olive's ear, Chuck gently slip two fingers between the wet folds of her girlfriend. She shivered, her face pressed against the locker, helpless as her brunette lover had her way with her. Chuck's wandering fingers brushed over the bundle of nerves in front of the blonde's center and she jerked involuntarily. She slipped two fingers into the blonde who had to bite her lip so she didn't scream out. She began a steady pace that Olive matched with her hips as best she could in the small space. "Faster," she said biting back a moan. Chuck tweaked her wrist, trying to get a better position in the cramped space as she thrust harder into Olive, who moaned loudly. Chuck nipped her ear roughly, telling her to be quiet, but it just caused another moan to escape her lips.

She sucked on Olive's neck, using her free arm to hold her up as her cries got louder. "A-almost," Olive stuttered out, leaning against Chuck and using her hand to snake around her neck and grasp her dark hair, pulling her into an awkwardly positioned kiss thanks to the tiny locker. Using her thumb, Chuck began to rub the bundle of nerves at Olive's opening, causing her to fling her head back in ecstasy. "Chuck," she moaned, her knees going weak.

Chuck could feel her lover about to go over the edge and gripped her tighter in preparation. She was curling her fingers slowly to get Olive to that high when she heard, "Chuck!" from someone that definitely was not Olive.

The door to the locker opened suddenly and both women froze. Ned and Emerson were standing outside of the locker; Emerson looked annoyed and Ned looked like he was about to pass out, his mouth hanging open. "What the hell do you two think you're doin'? We're on a case for Christ's sake!" Emerson billowed, "Get out here."

Frustrated, Olive banged her head against the side of the locker and groaned. Blushing fiercely, Chuck pulled her fingers out of Olive and out of her pants, rubbing her sore wrist as she climbed out of the locker. The blonde did up her pants and stepped out afterwards, fixing her hair. "Here, you need this," Emerson said handing Chuck a handi wipe. Blushing even more, Chuck took it gratefully and wiped her hands.

"You two need to learn to control…." Emerson said gesturing towards them, "this."

"Sorry," Chuck said quietly. Ned still stood shocked, staring at the two women. "What's wrong with you?" Emerson asked him, "Actin' like you never seen somthin' like that before. I know you have pay-per-view."

Chuck giggled and looked over at Olive, who still looked frustrated and she adjusted her shirt. Chuck went to rub her back but Olive stopped her, "Too hyper sensitive," she squeaked. The Dead Girl couldn't help but giggle and whisper in her ear, "Don't worry, we still have tonight."

Olive gulped and shivered, following Ned and Emerson as they continued the investigation. And while the two boys went back later that night to capture the killer, Chuck made sure Olive wasn't frustrated anymore.


	20. The Legend of Merle McQuoddy

**I'm soooooooo sorry I haven't posted in forever!!!! I've just had a major case of writer's block and it's been a long painful journey to even get this chapter out. But now that I have one done, hopefully the next chapter will come soon. Remember, reviews always help a stubborn writers block! Enjoy!**

**The Legend of Merle McQuoddy**

Chuck loved Olive. She loved her with all her heart, and she knew it. She couldn't ask for anything more than the blonde that was sleeping so peacefully besides her. But at the same time, she felt like there was a place that not even the blonde could fill. Ever since the wounds from her father's death had been reopened, she couldn't shake the hollow feeling. Chuck had asked Ned on multiple occasions to let her have that last chance to say goodbye to her father. But he refused.

The brunette lay besides her lover in bed, watching the gentle curve of her breasts beneath her nightgown rise and fall with each breath she took as she slept, and she couldn't help but think it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. A smile danced on her lips as Olive muttered something in her sleep, wrinkling her nose in a sniff. The blonde's hand lifted off her chest, grabbing absently for purchase but finding none. Chuck lifted her hand to meet Olive's and she grasped it gently, drawing the Dead Girl's hand against her chest as she slept.

Chuck brushed her lips along Olive's tan shoulder and sighed. Was it selfish of her to want more when she had already been given so much? Olive's eyes fluttered open, lids still heavy with sleep. She smiled sleepily when their eyes met, yawning and snuggling into Chuck's neck. "Mornin'," she said thickly. "Good morning," Chuck said kissing her hairline. "You watchin' me sleep?" she asked, her breath tickling her neck. She didn't look for an answer, just tangled their legs together, pressing a soft kiss to the smooth skin of Chuck's neck. Rubbing the back of Olive's calf with her toes, she drew her closer.

"I guess we should get up," Olive mumbled, rolling away from Chuck and stretching her limbs luxuriously, getting all the cracks and pops out of her body. The taller woman whined out of loss of contact as Olive rolled out of the bed. Chuck followed wearily, her mind still heavy with questions and wants.

The rest of the day seemed to drag on, despite the flurry of activity and hype over the idea of Dwight. But then, Ned agreed to bring her father back to life. Everything happened so quickly that she wasn't really sure what was happening, and the next thing she knew, her father was sitting in Ned's old room. Chuck sat across from him, questions and concerns filling her mind. She loved the fact that her father was back, but she also was haunted by the idea that someone else had died to replace her father.

"So, Button, tell me," her father said good heartedly as he lounged back in the chair Chuck had placed in the center of Ned's old room, "You've grown up to be a beautiful woman. I always knew you would. So do you have a boyfriend?"

Chuck's brain froze. She hadn't anticipated this question from her father, and she had especially not thought of an answer. For the past twenty years she had not seen her father, and he no doubt still looked at her as an innocent little girl. Not the mature woman she was. How was he going to respond to her not only having a girlfriend, but living with her? Chuck desperately wanted to cling to the innocent little girl façade that her father was holding on to.

Twisting uncomfortably in her chair, Chuck stuttered, "W-well." She pressed her lips together as her father looked at her, the father she had been longing to be reunited with. He leaned forward in his chair expectantly and she sighed. "No, Daddy. No boyfriend." It wasn't a total lie. "Do you want a glass of water?" Chuck asked trying to get off the subject. Without waiting for an answer, she went into the next room looking for a working tap. It was then when she heard Ned's voice billowing, "Chuck!" from the doorway. Panic struck her heart as she looked at the Pie Maker before her, unable to form words. "Charlotte," her father called from the opposite hall. "It's okay, Dad," she said quietly.

Ned's face grew long in horror as he turned around and saw Charlse Charlse in the doorway. "Dad?" he said as he slowly turned toward Chuck, "You kept your father alive."

"This looks bad. It is bad. It's horribly bad."

"It can't be that bad," Charles said, "It's not like I'm the first ghost he's seen." Before Ned or Chuck could respond the words of Lily saying, "He's up here!" resounded throughout the halls and Chuck dragged her father into the closet, shutting the door behind them.

"Can I just go out there and talk to her?" Charles whispered.

"No! After you were gone Lily and Vivian moved into our old house to look after me. They can't know you're alive again."

"They're just your aunts."

"Except for the one that's my mother."

"So you know," Charles said tuening to look at Chuck, stroking her cheek tenderly, "you okay?"

Chuck nodded, holding back tears, overwhelmed by the fatherly affection being doted on her that she had missed for so long. After Lily and Vivian left, Chuck tentatively poked her head out of the closet. "We need to talk," she said to Ned. "You don't want to hear what I have to say," he said, his face clouded with anger and he stormed out the door.

"Button?" her father said sitting down on the recliner in the middle of the room, "I thought you said you don't have a boyfriend."

"What?"

"Ned."

"No! He's not…we're not."

"Your daddy is smarter than you think, Button."

Chuck didn't answer, just grabbed her coat and headed for the door. "Daddy," she said putting it over her shoulders, "I need to go talk to someone. Can you stay here until I get back?"

"Of course." Chuck smiled, blowing him a kiss and heading towards Emerson's.

The detective was sitting at his desk knitting a gun cozy. "What now?" he said looking at her from over his glasses. "It's about my dad," she said wringing her hands together.

"Oh no. Here we go again. I already got rid'a Dwight for you. Now what?"

"I need you to distract Olive for me. Have her help you with some cases or something."

"What? Why the hell would I do that? You haven't told her about your Daddy yet, have you?"

"No."

"And you haven't told Daddy about her."

"Well…no."

"Why the hell not?"

"I don't know how he would respond."

"Listen. He's your Daddy. He's goin' to love you no matter what. You've got your girl and you love her. I can tell. You two are disgusting together. Gives me a toothache. Your Daddy just wants to see you happy, and anyone can see you two are. So stop getting' your panties all in a bunch about it and making a mountain into a molehill. Okay?"

Chuck looked down at her feet and nodded like a child being scolded by an elder. Emerson sighed, "I'll take her on this one case with me. Just until you get everything sorted out."

Chuck's head snapped up, "Thank you, Emerson."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. But only one case!" Chuck looked up at him gratefully and headed down to the Pie Hole where Olive was serving pies. "Where have you been?" the blonde asked giving Chuck a quick kiss, "I haven't seen you all day."

"I've been doing…stuff."

"Stuff? Like what kinda stuff?"

Lightening flashed and thunder clapped, ccausing the lights of the Pie Hole to shut off. "Jiminy Cricket!" Olive said jumping into Chuck's arms. Chuck laughed slightly, bending down kissing the top of Olive's ear, her ams around her waist, "It's just a storm." Both Emerson and Ned came into the kitchen right then. "The power went out," Ned said matter-of-factly.

"Well thanks for that enlightening comment," Emerson said rolling his eyes. Olive slipped out of Chuck's arms carefully. "There's a murder. At the light house," Emerson said sitting on a stool, "They say Merle McQuoddy was seen fleeing the scence."

"Merle McQuoddy!" Olive said coming from somewhere in the back of the kitchen with a flashlight lighting up her face, casting eerie shadows over her features, "out of all the enigmatic local ghost stories, his is my absolute favorite."

Chuck smiled softly to herself, watching her girlfriend flounce around the room, tell her ghost story, just as sadness began to flood her heart. Emerson was right, Olive was a big part of her life and she needed to share it with her father. Her thoughts were interrupted when the group screamed and a shadowed figure was standing at the doorway of the Pie Hole. After Elliot McQuoddy left and Emerson and Ned headed for the morgue, Chuck walked up to Olive, holding her from behind.

"Hey, you," Olive said leaning back against her lover. "Olive," Chuck said into her hair, "I need to tell you something."

Olive turned around in Chuck's arms, holding her hands behind the taller woman's neck, "What is it, hun?"

Chuck closed her eyes and rested her forehead against Olive's, sighing. The blonde rubbed Chuck's neck, trying to release some of the tension that had rested there. "You know how Dwight came around here, sniffing around for my dad's pocket watch?"

Olive nodded, pulling back again so she could look Chuck's full face. "Well, Ned woke up my dad, so that we could ask him about Dwight," Chuck sniffled, feeling the tears that were strangling her words, "and I tricked Ned and made him think that he touched him again but he didn't and I kept him alive and now he's upstairs in Ned's apartment." The words seemed to spill out of her mouth on their own accord, tripping and falling over each other as sobs began to wrack her body.

The petite blonde held the taller woman's face in her hands, running her thumbs along her cheekbones and shushing her quietly. "Babe, why are you so upset?" Olive asked, "Isn't this what you wanted?"

"That's exactly what I wanted," Chuck sniffed, "but I was selfish by keeping my dad alive. I put Ned in danger." The Dead Girl buried her face in the crook of Olive's neck, the tension in her muscles leaving as the blonde rubbed circles on her back. "There's nothing you can do now," Olive said, "Just make the best of it." Chuck nodded into her neck, placing a soft kiss on the skin before whispering, "I want you to meet him."

Olive's ministrations on her back ceased for a moment, "Now?" Chuck pulled back, looking at Olive's shocked face, "Please." Sighing, Olive nodded, being dragged ip the stairs by Chuck before she could even finish agreeing. They stopped outside Ned's apartment, Olive running her hands through her hair nervously.

"So I look okay?"

"You look beautiful," Chuck said offering her a chaste kiss before opening the door and walking inside, Olive close behind. "Daddy?" she called into the apartment. "Buttons?" he answered from the living room. Charles Charles was sitting on the couch, cards arranged on the coffee table in some sort of time passing game.

"Hi, Daddy," Chuck said giving him a hug. Olive hovered nervously behind her, hands behind her back. "Who's the little one?" Charles asked thought the bandages. "Oh, um," Chuck stood next to Olive, her tongue suddenly thick and heavy. "I'm Olive," the blonde said sensing Chuck's hesitation and giving the man her wide smile as she held out her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Olive," Charles said taking her hand, "Are you a friend of my Charlotte?"

"Um," Olive said looking up at Chuck who was staring at her, mouth opening and closing like a fish. "Daddy, Olive is…" Chuck said, her voice wavering. Olive's hand came to rest on the small of her back and she tensed under her touch. The blonde noticed this and dropped her hand, trying not to appear hurt.

"Olive is…my….she's my…," she looked at Olive, and back at her father, "Friend." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Olive's face drop in hurt and confusion and she mentally smacked herself for not telling him the truth. She couldn't understand why she failed to get past this insecurity of disappointing her father by being gay.

"Well that's great!" Charles said happily, "It's nice to know that there's someone my Charlotte can talk to. Hang around with."

"Yeah," Olive said plastering on a fake smile that made Chuck cringe, "we're just such good buddies!" The last words were dripping in hurt and Chuck wanted to cry. "Uh, we should go," Chuck said taking Olive's arm, "Lots of work to do." Olive pulled her arm from Chuck's grip as they walked back into the hallway.

"What was that?" Olive hissed at her, "Friends? _Friends?_ I don't know what kinda friends you've had in the past, _Charlotte_, but to me friends isn't sleeping together in the Biblical sense."

"Olive, please understand-"

"Understand? Understand?! You're ashamed of me! Too ashamed to introduce me as your girlfriend to your father!"

"Sweetie-"

"Oh don't 'Sweetie' me!" Olive said storming into their apartment, "You're the one who asked me to meet your father! You didn't tell me it was as _friends!_"

"Olive-"

"No! I don't want to talk to you right now. I don't even want to see your face!"

"Please-"

"Out!" Olive pointed an unwavering finger at the door, her eyes on the ground, not looking up at Chuck as she pleaded to her. Realizing she wasn't going to get anywhere at this moment, Chuck shuffled out of the apartment, flinching when the door slammed behind her.


	21. The Legend of Merle McQuoddy II

**Grumbello: Thanks for my one and only review. Lol. I can always count on you to review my chapters when I update. So it's an understatement what I say THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH. I think I love you a little bit. I really do. Lol. This chapter is for you. Enjoy.**

**The Legend of Merle McQuoddy II**

Leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, Chuck huffed a piece of hair out of her face as she watched her father build a house out of cards. Ned was trying to explain the rules to him, but he was adamant in his mindset. Olive was on a case with Emerson, and no doubt, still infuriated with her.

"Button," Charles said, taking her from her thoughts. "Hm?" she said sitting up slightly. "I asked you when you started eating pie. You've always hated pie."

"This is the best pie you'll ever taste," Chuck assured him nudging it towards him, "It's pear with gouda in the crust. Olive's-" Chuck stopped mid-sentence, the mention of Olive's name instantly depressing her once more and plopping her elbows back on her knees, head in her hands. She kept thinking of the look on Olive's face when she called her a friend instead of her girlfriend.

She was jarred once more from her thoughts when her father reached across the table and grabbed Ned's arm. "-and you never see my daughter again." Chuck blinked, looking between them, unaware of the argument that had just ensued between the two men.

Ned stood up and looked at Charles Charles fiercely, "Sir, I care for your daughter. And I would never do anything to purposely hurt her. I've done all I could to protect her. I'm sorry if that's not enough." Letting out a breath, he turned and walked out of the apartment.

"Your boyfriend's a stubborn one, isn't he?" Charles said putting another card on the top of the wobbly structure he had been laboring on. "He's not my boyfriend," Chuck said with a little more hostility then she meant, instantly looking up at him apologetically, "Sorry. It's just-"

"No, Button, it's okay," Charles said, "I just assumed." Chuck nodded, looking at the pie. "I'm going to the store," she said picking up her purse, "Is there anything you want?"

"Oh, hold on," Charles said pulling a pad and pen out of his pocket and jutting a few items down before handing it to Chuck. She headed down to the Pie Hole, going to open the door to walk out just as Olive walked in, Emerson close behind her.

"Olive," Chuck said reaching for her arm. The blonde stepped to the side, causing Chuck's grab to miss. "Charlotte," Olive said turning to go sit at a booth. "Olive, please," Chuck said placing a hand on her shoulder, feeling the petite woman tense under her touch, "Can we talk?"

Olive turned towards her sharply, "Yeah, sure, _Buddy_," she said with anger, "'cause that's what _friends_ do. They talk! They chit and they chat and braid each other's hair and giggle about boys."

"Please, Olive," Chuck pleaded, "I'm really sorry. I love you. Please." She noticed the hard look on the blonde's face falter slightly before going back to its previous coldness. "If you don't mind," Olive said straightening up and smoothing non existent wrinkles in her shirt, "Emerson and I are about to grill some perps." The phrase was said with such seriousness that Chuck felt laughter begin to bubble in her throat, but she managed to suppress it. Olive noticed her lips twitch and hit her arm, "It's not funny, Charlotte," she said before stomping away and sitting next to Emerson. The detective gave Chuck a look and she sighed, walking out the door.

Arriving back at the Pie Hole, Chuck noticed a mess on the kitchen floor and Ned picking up the damage.

"What happened?"

"Uh, me and your father had a bit of a tussle."

"A tussle?"

"More like a scuffle."

"Charlotte!" came the muffled voice of her father through the pantry door. She rushed over, ignoring Ned's terrified look. She saw Charles slummed against the wall gasping, "Ah, the light. So bright." She put his arm around her neck and led him out of the pantry.

"Go upstairs and I'll be right there," she said as he walked out of the kitchen. Chuck turned towards Ned, her eyes blazing with anger, "Why would you bring him to the Pie Hole?"

"I didn't! He came on his own accord! He ran around for an hour and didn't even tell us!"

"He wouldn't do that! He knows the rules."

"Well, apparently, your father's not one for rules. He's not one for chocolate or rules. And he made it clear the from now on, he's gonna be doing his own thing."

Chuck buried her face in her hands and sighed, "I'll go upstairs and talk to him."

"We said we'd handle this together. I'll go with you."

"No you're far too upset. I can't have you go up there and start fighting again"

"He's a big boy, he can handle it."

"Yeah, well maybe I can't!"

"Chuck…"

"I'm going to talk to him. You stay here," she said walking out of the kitchen and heading up to Ned's apartment. She quietly walked into the apartment, closing the door behind her and smiling weakly at her father who nodded at her, "Hi."

"Hi," she answered.

"Come here, Button," he said motioning her to the couch, "What I have here is a cookbook of culinary perfections from around the world. Now what you do it you open here and wherever the spoon lands you and I are gonna go. Tonight."

"No dad," she said shaking her head, "It was just a misunderstanding that went out of control. Leaving is not the answer."

"What is this better?" he said standing up from the couch and walking to the other side of the coffee table, "Let's see. Rule 21. When two parties are crossing the room simultaneously, party B will pause until party a has crossed. This is how you live? Huh? Charlotte, you may have grown up without me but I'm back and I'm never gonna stop trying to keep you safe. The little girl I left behind would never have settled for a lock and key existence. No she was destined for adventure."

"My life is here," she protested weakly as he sat back on the couch next to her.

"This isn't life. This is a freak show," Charles said with a slight chuckle, "We're only freaks in Ned's world. Away from Ned we could do anything. Be anything."

"Dad I just want things to be how they used to be," she said leaning against her father.

"Come with me button. Pie is simple, limiting. Just a pastry and filling. Cake is complex, layered with treasures waiting to be discovered," Charles Charles held the wooden spoon out to Chuck, "Which one do you choose?"

Chuck looked at the spoon, the rough wood surface tempting her with adventures she had long wished to pursue. For a few moments, she was tempted to go with her father's plan, whisking away to some unknown land. Chuck tried to imagine exotic worlds and treasures unknown, but all she could see was Olive's face. She took the spoon, holding it in front of her face before setting it on the floor.

"I can't she said quietly, sitting up. "Why, Button?" Charles asked picking the spoon up. Chuck sighed, cradling her head in her hands before looking back up at her father and taking a deep breath, "Because I'm in love."

Charles looked at her for a second before shaking his head, "But Ned can't even touch you. What kinda relationship is that?"

"It's not Ned, Daddy," she said looking at her hands that were twisting together in her lap. "What? Charlo-…who?" her father questioned.

"It's Olive."

Charles looked at his daughter, eyes undoubtedly blinking behind his dark glasses in disbelief, "Olive? But Olive's a…she's a…"

"Woman, Daddy."

"Charlotte, this is no time for jokes."

"I'm not joking, Dad."

"But that would mean that your…"

"Gay. Dad. I'm gay," her voice becoming sterner as the conversation progressed. She looked up at her dad who was looking back at her, the bandages on his face making his expression impossible to read. "Oh, wow, Charlotte," Charles sighed, "That sure is something to spring on me like that. I've only been alive again for a couple of days ya know."

"So you hate me?"

"You're my Button Button. I could never hate you."

"Really?"

"Really, Button."

"Oh, Daddy, thank goodness," Chuck said embracing him tightly, "I was so afraid that you would reject me."

"You're my daughter. I'll love you no matter what."

"Thank you, Dad."

"I must admit, however, that part of the reason I was so hard on Ned was because I thought he was your boyfriend. I think I owe him an apology."

"I'm sure he would appreciate that."

"Well, go get him. I'll be here."

Chuck kissed her hand and cupped his cheek, smiling at him before putting her coat on and heading for the Pie Hole. When she got to the kitchen, she noticed the restaurant was closed and Ned sitting on a bench outside. She went out to the front and paced in front of him, speaking carefully, "You have to understand, when I was a little girl, I would compare my dad to all the other dads on the street. And I have to say I wasn't very objective. I was convinced that he was the strongest, bravest most fun man in the neighborhood."

"I can say objectively he was all those things."

"When he was gone, that's how I remembered him. I always put him on a pedestal. So I'm sorry it was hard for me to see what he was doing. He was upset because he had to stay in one spot and then he thought you were my boyfriend-"

"What?!"

"But then I explained everything to him. I told him about Olive. And why I couldn't leave."

"And?"

"I told him I was in love and I couldn't leave. And he's okay with it. He's waiting for you."

"With a shotgun?"

"So he can apologize. He wants us to start fresh."

"He's a good dad."

"You're a good man," Chuck said nudging him carefully, making sure just their covered shoulders touched, "Come on."

They got up to the apartment and Chuck promptly hung her coat on the peg, "Daddy! Grab your hat. We're going up to the roof to watch the snow and-"

She stopped in her tracks, seeing the spoon propped up on cookbook with a note that said, "I chose too." Panic filled her heart and she ran back down the stairs outside, just in time to see her father pull away in Ned's car.


	22. The Norwegians

**Thanks to all of you who reviewed on my last chapter! It made me all tingly inside. Lol. It's always nice to know the work I spend so much time on is read! Thank you. And enjoy!**

**The Norwegians**

Chuck dragged herself into hers and Olive's apartment later that night, a chill still settling over her body, both from the night air and from the pain of watching her father drive away, abandoning her. She dropped her coat and scarf somewhere between the door and the bedroom, not really caring where they landed. Grasping the cold knob in her hand, she went to open the door but it wouldn't budge. She jiggled it and pressed her palm on the smooth wood.

"Olive," she said to the door, her voice cracking slightly. When there was no answer, she pushed her ear to the door and listened for movement, but heard only the slight buzz of the radiator heating the apartment. Too emotionally and physically exhausted to keep trying, she curled herself into a corner of the couch and closed her eyes, clothes and shoes from the day still on. She hugged herself, trying to evade the cold as much as to pretend Olive was lying besides her. Chuck squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to keep the tears from cascading down her cheeks. She took in a shaky breath, and quietly drifted off to sleep, her exhaustion finally getting the best of her.

When she awoke the next morning, there was a blanket placed over her and her shoes had been taken off and placed besides the couch. She sat up, looking around the apartment for Olive, but the only evidence of her was the opened bedroom door. Rubbing her eyes with the backs of her hands, Chuck stood up, grimacing as she stretched her neck, stiff from spending the night on the couch.

The brunette got ready and headed down to the Pie Hole, looking around the restaurant for Olive. When she didn't see her, she sat at a booth with Ned and Emerson, folding her arms on the table and resting her chin on her wrist.

"I've been dumped by my own dad. And to boot, I had to sleep on the couch last night," Chuck mumbled to no one in particular.

"You weren't dad dumped. And why did you sleep on the couch?" Ned said looking at her.

"Olive locked the bedroom door. I didn't even know we had a lock on the bedroom door. And my dad just left. No explanation, no apology, no forwarding address."

"At least my dad sent a postcard with his new address complete with his new family."

"I think he mighta left 'cause I told him."

"Told him what?"

"About Olive. About me and Olive."

"Oh."

"When I told him he was so…so understanding," Chuck sat up and pressed her palms to the wood surface of the table in anger, "I thought everything was okay!"

"Maybe he just needs some time to process. To digest," Ned suggested.

Emerson, who had been observing the conversation from his side of the table finally spoke up, "Did you tell Olive about dear old daddy up'in and goin'?"

Chuck shook her head, "I haven't seen her since that lovely conversation in the doorway yesterday."

"I think it should stay that way," the detective said sipping his coffee.

"What? Why?"

"Don't you think Itty Bitty will have an itty bitty breakdown by being rejected once by you and once by your father?"

"I didn't reject her!"

"You called her your friend. You rejected yo' relationship. So you rejected her by proxy."

Chuck put her chin back down on her hands, "I'm a terrible girlfriend. And a terrible daughter. I'm just in general a terrible person."

"We jus' need to fix this.

Olive walked over to the table, looking at everyone but Chuck. "Fix what?"

"Fixin' to tell you to mind yo' own business."

"Are you working a case? Let's break it down. Is it murder? Is it a kidnapping? Who are the players? Lay it on me."

"This is one of those need to know cases. And you don't need to know."

"I'm your Itty Bitty. I'm helpful."

"Cherry Kiwi crumble. A la mode."

Chuck looked up at the blonde, "Olive, can we talk?" The petite woman looked at her briefly before beginning to walk away. After only a couple of steps, she sharply turned back around, "Hold up, yo. I'm not some yo yo you can jerk up and down on a 'today lets include her and tomorrow lets not' whim. Because if it is, there are only so many knots you can tie in my string before it snaps. For good." At the sentence, Olive looked penetratingly at Chuck, her blue eyes drilling into green on the 'g'.

"Olive, please," Chuck pleaded reaching for her hand but letting it hover in the air between their bodies. "Olive please my ass," Emerson interrupted, "get my pie."

"You know I hate this," Chuck began, "Olive is my girlfriend and I should tell her what's going on."

"No. Because once you tell her a little, you gotta tell her a lot. She don't know 'bout Dwight. And we're keepin' it that way."

Chuck got up and followed Olive into the kitchen, standing across the counter from her as she sliced a pie. "Olive," she began cautiously in a voice one would use when trying to coax a wounded animal out of a cave, "please, talk to me."

"You don't want to hear what I have to say," Olive said curtly, stabbing the pie with perhaps more violence then was necessary. Without giving chuck another chance to speak, Olive walked briskly back into the dining room. For the rest of the day, Olive did all she could to avoid being along with Chuck so there was no more conversation.

"Slice me up something fresh and expensive and it better be on the house because I just saved yo asses," Emerson said sitting at the counter.

"Why? What happened?" Chuck asked setting apiece of pie in front of him.

"Your aunt Vivian came visiting me trying to hire me to find her missing paramour Dwight Dixon."

"What did you tell her?" Ned asked.

"I said 'no need to pay me, I know damn well where Dwight Dixon is. Buried in the ground where I put him.' What do you think I said? No!"

"Poor Vivian," Chuck sighed, "carrying a torch for a flame that I extinguished."

"With my finger"

"Well don't you both worry. I gave her plenty of reasons to forget about him. The last thing we need is somebody investigating the disappearance of Dwight Dixon."

No sooner then the words had left Emerson's mouth, the bell above the door rang and three tall, professional looking people came in. "Hello, Emerson Cod," the middle man said in a thick accent.

Emerson turned slowly in his chair, "Hello, Magnus."

"We've been cosigned to investigate the disappearance of Dwight Dixon."

Chuck rushed into the kitchen, pressing herself against the wall so the foreign investigators would not spot her and recognize her as the girls who was supposed to be dead. Her heart almost skipped a beat when she saw Olive walking towards her, standing besides her on the wall. "I'm still mad, so ignore my caring tone. So why are we hiding?" she whispered.

The brunette looked down at her, unable to keep her eyes from wandering down the front of her Pie Hole uniform, the zipper down low enough so she could see her full cleavage. Olive's arm accidentally rubbed against her hip and arousal shot through her, settling in the pit of her stomach. Chuck realized that the lack of physical contact in the past two days had really affected her in the worst way, and the overwhelming need to touch Olive was almost too much. So when Olive leaned forward to look into the kitchen and Chuck pressed her palm to her chest to stop her from revealing their location, the taller woman could not hold back any longer.

She slid her hand from Olive's tanned chest up to her shoulder, pressing her to the wall while she swung herself around so she was in front of the smaller woman. She pressed her body completely against the blondes, making sure they were still hidden from the other detectives.

"Chuck," Olive whispered looking up at her in anger, "What do you think you're-"

Chuck pressed her lips forcefully to the blonde's, swallowing her words and causing her head to hit the wall. Olive clawed at the brunette's forearms, trying to push her away. Tired of her protesting, the Dead Girl took her by the wrists and held them above her head. Forcing her tongue into Olive's mouth, she roamed the mouth she was so familiar with. A strangled moan bubbled from Olive's throat when Chuck pressed her hips into hers, further pinning her against the wall. Keeping both of the blonde's hands against the wall with one hand, Chuck ran her fingers lightly down her arm, over her neck and down her chest, plunging down to her cleavage, her fingers running along the tops of her breasts. Olive bit down on Chuck's bottom lip and she gasped in pain, tasting the blood in her mouth. The petite woman took the opportunity to rip her mouth away from her girlfriend's and growled at her, "Chuck! What the hell are you doing? I'm not going to let you sex me up and make me forget I'm mad at you!"

With one firm thrust of her hips, Olive successfully pushed Chuck away from her body, releasing her arms as she stumbled backwards. Olive ran a hand through her mussed hair, pressing a single finger to her swollen lips before marching into the dining room just as the Norwegians were leaving. Chuck stood dumbfounded, desire coursing through her veins. She licked the blood off of her lip and winced slightly at the pain. She wasn't sure what had come over her. The need to touch Olive was so strong that she had run on pure lust and instinct when pressing Olive into the wall.

The blonde plucked a vial containing Ned's DNA out of their hands, "Thank you." The blonde man plucked a hair from her head and she looked around in confusion after they left, "What's going on?"

"Nothing," the three said in unison. Anger clouded over her face once more and she stomped behind the counter, drying dishes with vigor. Ned and Emerson decided to have Olive go to Vivian's house and get her to call of the Norwegians, and she was more than happy to oblige. Chuck ran her tongue along her swollen bottom lip, tasting copper. The burning in her lower stomach was hard to ignore, but realized she had to when Olive walked out the door to her aunt's without even a second look at Chuck.

It was several hours later when Chuck spotted Emerson standing besides the M.O.T.H.E.R. and joined him. "What are we doing?" she whispered.

"_We_ are doing nothing," he said making a contraption with a mirror and gum, "_I'm _spying on those damn Norwegians. See what they're up to. What are you doin' here? They're gonna see you and realize yo' not as dead as your supposed to be."

"They're not going to see me. I just want in on the action."

Sighing, Emerson said nothing more. He held the mirror up to one of the windows, peering into the high tech bus. "Oh hell no, you itty bitty traitor," he said, causing Chuck to grab the mirror and peer into the bus herself. What she saw made her stomach churn with anything but desire. Olive was standing with a small glass of alcohol in her hand, outfitted in one of the Norwegian uniforms. And next to her, standing dangerously close to her with her hand around the blonde's waist was Hedda, smiling down on her like an animal that caught its prey. But when Olive leaned against her, laughing flirtatiously Chuck felt her heart shatter.


	23. The Norwegians II

**Thanks again for the marvelous reviews! You guys make me happy. And Grumbello, I must say I always look forward to your reviews. I can always count on you reviewing even if no one else does! Makes me happy inside. Anyways. Away we go. Enjoy!**

**The Norwegians II**

Walking into the kitchen of the Pie Hole, Chuck blindly reached for the nearest pie, circling the tin with an arm and using the other to open the freezer and pull out an oversized tub of ice cream. Grabbing a spoon, she began to scoop the ice cream onto the whole pie.

'This isn't going to work,' she thought looking thoughtfully down at the warm pie, several scoops of vanilla ice cream melting in the middle of the flaky crust. She picking up the pie and opted to drop the whole pie into the tub of ice cream, scraping every last bit out of the tin and into the tub.

Chuck wrapped both of her arms around the huge tub, sitting moodily on a stool in the kitchen. She took the large spoon she had used to scoop the ice cream and dug it into the carton, pie and ice cream balancing on the metal surface. Looking at the sweet confection, she stuffed it into her mouth, chewing moodily, brain freeze hitting her almost immediately.

Ned came into the kitchen and looked at Chuck, "What are you doing?"

"I'm eating my feelings," she said pathetically, shoving another spoonful into her mouth. She could feel the tears beginning to well in her eyes, and willed them to stay back.

"What happened?" Ned asked coming closer to her. "Olive," she said biting down on the spoon a little too hard, "I was a terrible girlfriend and now she has a new Norwegian girlfriend." The tears began to spill down her face, unable to hold them back any longer.

"What?"

"We saw her. Me and Emerson. Smoozing with that Norwegian _bitch_."

"I'm sure she wasn't _smoozing_-"

"She was! I saw her! They were drinking out of tiny glasses and giggling!"

"Oh…"

"It was disgusting."

"Maybe Olive was forced to…smooze."

Chuck shook her head vigorously, "If any one forced her it was me. I've been keeping her in the dark about everything lately. She hates me for it, I know she does."

Ned gently took the carton of ice cream with pie dumped in it out of Chuck's hands and she protested weakly, holding the spoon tightly. "Listen," he said dumping the carton in the trash, "I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding. And eating a whole pie and a whole tub of ice cream is not going to make it any better."

The brunette sniffed loudly, attempting to wipe the tears from her cheeks, but they kept falling. "She doesn't love me anymore," she said quietly, "I screwed up and now not only is my dad gone but the woman I love more than life hates me."

Ned stood next her, unable to touch the Dead Girl, but his closeness was enough to comfort her. "Olive doesn't hate you," he said, "She's just upset. People do crazy things when they're upset. So, give it a little time. I'm sure she'll come around."

"But what if she doesn't! What if she decides to go to Norway with them and live out a happy Norwegian life with _Hedda?_ I don't know what I would do if I lost her. She's my everything."

"You mean everything to Olive. That was why she was so upset when you told your dad she was just a friend. I think she felt you were taking her for granted. But she loves you. Everyone can see it. And she wouldn't leave you for Hedda."

Chuck nodded weakly, looking up at Ned with her eyes shining. "Thank you," she said hoarsely, "I hope you're right."

"If I could give you a reassuring hug, I would. But since I can't, know that in my heart I really want to."

Smiling softly, Chuck wrapped her arms around herself and pretended it was Ned and the Pie Maker did the same. "You're the best friend a girl could ever ask for," she said, and he simply smiled back.

"I have to go," Ned said, not wanting to ruin the moment, "I'm going to steal M.O.T.H.E.R. and get rid of all the evidence they have on us."

"Sounds perfect."

"So. I'll be back. Don't wallow. And stay away from the pie."

The brunette chucked, "No more pie."

Nodding at her once more, he left the Pie Hole and Chuck dragged herself up to her apartment. She dressed in her pajamas while the bedroom door still remained unlocked, unable to get her mind off of Olive and Hedda. She pushed back the covers of the comforter and snuggled into the covers, bringing them up to her chin. Trying to shut out the world, her mind buzzed with images of the Norwegian with Olive that became less and less censored the later it got.

She heard Pigby shuffling around outside the bedroom door and threw the covers back, curling her toes against the cold floor. When she walked into the living room, the pig looked up and her and oinked. "Are you hungry?" she said shuffling towards the kitchen. Filling both Pigby's and Digby's bowls she set them on the kitchen floor and walked into the living room.

The sound of someone unlocking the door caught her attention and she froze in her tracks. The door opened and Olive walked in, clutching her arms to her chest in apparent pain. "Are you okay?" Chuck asked noticing the grimace on her love's face.

Olive looked up at her, as she closed the door behind her, "Chuck, I-"

"I asked if your arm was okay?" Chuck said drawing her bath robe around her tighter. She didn't want to hear what Olive had to say, afraid she would admit her escapades with Hedda.

Understanding, Olive swallowed, "I think I sprained something."

"Sit down," Chuck commanded going into the bathroom and grabbing a first aide kit. When she came back into the living room, Olive was perched on the edge of the couch cushion, ready to spring at the slightest hint of confrontation. Approaching her cautiously, Chuck sat on the coffee table across from her, opening the first aide kit. She noticed a small cut on Olive's forehead and began dabbing it with peroxide. The blonde winced at the burn, shutting her eyes. Chuck took the small woman's face in her hands and blew lightly on the cut, coaxing the solution to dry. Olive was tense in her hands, not sure what was going on.

Satisfied that the cut was properly tended to, she grasped Olive's fingers, her arm still held tightly against her chest. "Let me see," Chuck said quietly. Their eyes met for a moment and Olive slowly lowered her arm, gritting her teeth against the pain. Chuck ran her fingers lightly over the tanned flesh of her forearm, "Where does it hurt?"

Olive pointed to her wrist with her other hand and Chuck pressed lightly on the injured part in question. The blonde gasped at the pressure, tears welling up in her eyes. "It's not broken," Chuck said softly, pulling a roll of bandage out of the box, "It's just sprained. We can wrap it up and I have a sling you should wear for a little bit." She wrapped the wrist tightly and looked up at Olive.

"Are you okay?" she said, still holding her wrist in her hand. Olive nodded, "Thank you." Chuck kissed the bandage at the underside of her wrist. When she looked up, the blonde had tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry," Olive squeaked, "I was so terrible to you."

"I'm sorry I couldn't tell my father that you were my girlfriend," Chuck said, her own tears falling.

"I completely shut you out! I should never have done that. You wanted to talk and I was too stubborn to. Then I was hanging off the cliff and I kept thinking 'What if I die and I didn't tell Chuck I loved her today?' and I felt terrible."

"You were hanging off a cliff?" Chuck said, her voice rising in horror.

"That's not important now," Olive sniffed, "I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."

"Oh, Olive. Forgive me for not telling my Dad about you."

"Let's just agree to forgive each other."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Will you…will you kiss me now?"

Chuck smiled, scooting forward on the coffee table and cupping Olive's cheek. The blonde tipped her chin up and closed her eyes, lips parting in anticipation. She brushed her lips lightly against the small woman's but stopped.

"Wait," she said pulling back, causing Olive to whimper, "What about Hedda?"

"Hedda? What about her?"

"I saw you two smoozing in the smart bus thing."

"Smoozing? We weren't smoozing."

"Yes, you were. She was looking at you like a lion looks at a baby zebra. And you were being all giggly and drinking from tiny glasses."

"Chuck, that was all part of a rouse."

"A rouse?"

"Yes. It was an inside job, trying to dismantle the operation from the inside. I was way under cover."

"So you weren't…you weren't attracted to her?"

"Oh, Chuck," Olive said tugging on her arm slightly, encouraging her to sit next to her on the couch, "I am not attracted to her. I love you. With all my heart. I would never _ever_ do anything to hurt you."

"I just got so mad when I saw you with her."

"I know, love. I'm so sorry."

Without another word, Chuck leaned over, pressing her lips to Olive's, and noting that they were still swollen from their "confrontation" earlier that day. Keeping this in mind, she kissed her softly, not wanting to hurt her. So when Olive grasped the back of her head and smashed their lips together, Chuck was slightly taken back, her hands grabbing Olive's hips to anchor herself. She pressed into Olive's body and the blonde gasped, pulling away. Her injured arm was still against her chest and Chuck had leaned a little too hard on it.

"I'm sorry," Chuck panted, the wind still gone from their kiss. "It's okay," Olive said looking down at her arm, noticing she was still in her Norwegian outfit, "I should change." Chuck nodded, "I'll make some tea."

Olive went into the bedroom and Chuck began busying herself with the tea. She yawned, remembering just how tired she was before Olive came home. She walked into the bedroom and saw Olive laying on the bed, her legs hanging off the side of the mattress. She smiled to herself and bent down, grasping Olive under the arms and pulling her up so her head was on the pillow. "Izza teatime?" Olive muttered through her sleep. "No, no tea time. You need to sleep," Chuck said drawing the comforter up around the blonde's chin. Chuck climbed in besides her, wrapping her arm around the other's tiny waist. "I forgot to tell you," Chuck said kissing Olive's temple, "I told my father about you. About us."

Olive's eyes fluttered open and she looked at Chuck, "You did?"

"Yep."

"What did…what did he say?"

"He said it didn't make a difference, that he still loved me the same."

"But?"

"But then he ran away. Stole Ned's car and took off."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know. I'd rather not think about it."

"I'm sorry," Olive said turning on her side to face Chuck and stroking her cheek, "I really am."

"It's okay. I'll get through it," Chuck said lacing their fingers together, "As long as I have you. Nothing else matters."

Smiling, Olive pressed their lips together and they instantly dozed off into sleep, their lips still touching.


	24. Window Dressed to Kill

**Thanks again to Gumbello for reviewing my chapter. Much appreciated, love. Only two more chaps left!!!!! Oh no! Enjoy.**

**Window Dressed to Kill**

It was about a month later from the hanging off a cliff fiasco and Chuck had noticed that Olive was acting strangely around Ned, talking in strange, obscure riddles.

"I wouldn't say I don't like it," Olive said as Chuck modeled a new dress for her.

"What does that really mean?" Chuck said pitting her hands on her hips, "You've been talking like that for weeks."

"What do you think it means?"

"Olive."

Olive sighed and walked up to Chuck, trailing her finger across her jaw and down to her collarbone, "If I tell you, will you promise not to be mad and stomp off in a jealous rage?"

"I've never stomped off in a jealous rage."

"You were pretty close with the whole Hedda thing."

"No, I wasn't."

"Yes, you were."

"No."

"Well, it's not important anyways. You promise?"

"I promise."

"Okay," the blonde said taking one of Chuck's hands in her own, running her thumb gently along her knuckles, "When we were dangling off the cliff, Ned something that kinda confused me."

"What did he say?"

"Well, he said, 'I'm sorry I didn't realize your feelings for me before Chuck came' so I said, 'You never looked at me the way you looked at Chuck' and he said 'I wouldn't say never' and then we were rescued."

Chuck was silent for a moment, looking down at their enjoined hands before speaking. "Really." Chuck couldn't help but feel a shot a jealousy run through her. Olive _had_ pined for Ned first, and for longer.

"Are you mad?" Olive asked squeezing her hand.

"No. Just…confused I guess."

"Yeah, so am I."

"So does Ned…does he have less than friendly feelings for you?"

"I don't know! That's the thing."

"What if," Chuck bit her lip, looking down at Olive before going over to the couch and plopping down on it, "never mind that's a dumb question."

Olive followed her to the couch and sat besides her, "No, hun, ask."

Sighing, Chuck looked at Olive and back down at her own hands, "What if he does have feelings for you?"

She looked back up at the blonde who's face looked slightly confused, "I don't get it."

"Olive, you had feelings for Ned before I came. I know you did. So what if…what if you find out that he likes you as more than a platonic friend?"

She shrugged, "It really wouldn't make a difference would it? I don't feel that way about him anymore." Chuck nodded slowly, rubbing Olive's arm lightly before drawing her into her arms. The blonde rested her head in the crook of the taller woman's neck and kissed the skin lightly.

A little while latter, the women went down into the Pie Hole, hands clasped tightly. Chuck clutched Olive's hand tighter when she saw Ned in the kitchen. "Ow, Chuck, what are trying to do? Break me?" Olive said trying to stretch her hand.

"Sorry," Chuck said loosening her grip. "Chuck, Olive," Ned said nodding at them as he put the finishing touches on a pie. Chuck stood besides him while Olive began waiting on tables. "So, Ned," Chuck said rocking back and forth.

"Yes?" he said slicing a pie carefully.

"Can we go for a walk? I need to talk to you."

Ned looked at Chuck with concern, "Is something wrong? Did something happen?"

"No," Chuck said taking a strawberry biting into it, "I just want to talk to you."

Ned wiped his hands on a rag and took off his apron. "Let's go," he said grabbing his coat.

"Okay," Chuck said walking with him towards the door, "Olive, we'll be back."

The blonde looked between the two and beckoned Chuck over. "Don't say anything about what I told you, okay?" she whispered to the brunette, "I don't want him freaking out. And plus, I probably read too much into it."

"Fine," Chuck sighed giving Olive a quick kiss on her cheek, "I'll see you later."

Chuck and Ned walked in silence for a few moments, not sure what to say. The Dead Girl kicked the snow with her feet as she walked, watching it rise briefly into the air and landing back on the blanket before her. "Sooo, what did you want to talk about?" Ned asked, hands deep in his pockets.

She thought for a moment, trying to figure out how to skate around what she really wanted to ask him and what Olive had explicitly told her not to. So she settled on a neutral question, "So, how long have you known Olive?"

"Probably about four years now."

"That's a long time."

"It doesn't seem that long."

"How many of those years did she have feelings for you?"

Ned began to prattle nervously, "Depends what kind of feelings you mean. Friendly feelings the whole time I would imagine. Except for that time I accidentally dropped a pie on her maybe. But I don-"

"Not those kinds of feelings, the romantic kinds of feelings."

"Oh…uh….I don't know. I really even wasn't aware of them until you told me. I always just thought she was being friendly."

"Did you ever feel that way about her?"

Ned froze for a moment, looking straight ahead, "No. Never."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," he turned to her, "I'm positive."

"Okay."

"Okay."

Before she even realized it, they were back at the Pie Hole, but she remained out front, unable to go inside. "I need to clear my head," she said to Ned, "Ima walk a little longer." Ned nodded and went into the Pie Hole, leaving her to her thoughts.

Chuck couldn't tell if Ned was telling the truth or not, but with him avoiding looking at her and the nervous twitch he had in his eye, she assumed he was lying. She knew Ned too well to say he was telling the truth. She wondered why Ned would finally decide to hint to Olive that he had not always thought of her in the platonic sense. It could have had something to do with the fact that they were dangling from a cliff and about to fall to their certain death.

When she finally made her way back to the Pie Hole, she saw Ned climbing into Randy Man's van with two men following. "Chuck!" she heard to her side. Turning around in time to witness Olive gesturing wildly to her. She walked over to her and Olive grasped her biceps tightly.

"Chuck," she began, "I have to leave for a while-"

"What?!"

"To make things short, my childhood kidnappers, I use the term kidnappers loosely because they weren't really my kidnappers, have escaped from jail and I need to help them get over the border."

"Buster and Jerry?"

"Yes."

"Well, let me go with you."

"No! I mean, if we're caught, they'll be police officers. And you're supposed to be dead."

"But Olive, I want to help. I want to protect you."

"Chuck," Olive said taking both of her hands, "I love that you want to help and I love how you're protective of me. But I'm protective of you too, and I need you to stay here so that you can't be found out and experimented on."

Chuck nodded, "I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I know," Olive said kissing her soundly, "And I don't want you to get hurt either."

"I guess I'll see you later then," Chuck sighed.

Olive nodded, kissing her one last time before walking towards the car. "Be careful!" Chuck called out to her retreating back.

To pass time, Chuck went on a case with Emerson. They were standing in front of the Dicker's Department store window, mourners gathered around the window with them.

Her and Emerson stood in awkward silence. They had never really been alone together like this, they had always had someone else. But the lack of conversation was beginning to get to Chuck, so she spoke. "Olive told me all about Jerry and Buster before," Chuck said.

Emerson sighed without even looking at her, "Did Pee Wee bother to tell you that she told Papa number 1 and Papa number 2 that she ain't yo' girl. She's Ned's."

"No," Chuck said slightly taken back by the comment, "She didn't."

"Lonely Pie Boy pretending to be her boyfriend in order to pull the wool over fake papa's peepers is the kinda idea that gives a bad idea the will to live."

"And that's why I'm peeved. I can't avenge when I'm peeved."

"We don' have time for you and your lady peeves."

"Now Ned and Olive are on a romantic rendezvous to the border. I don't even now why I upset. It's only one day. I'm being ridiculous."

"A lot can happen in a day," Emerson said quickly before changing the subject. Chuck looked up at him helplessly. Olive hadn't told her that Ned was off playing her fake boyfriend. The real reason it bugged her was because she knew that Olive had strong feelings for Ned before. What if the feelings were dug back up since they were living out the relationship they had only thought about before?

"There is no case if I ain't getting paid," Emerson finished looking down expectantly at Chuck. So she launched herself into the crowd and caused a stir, making Emerson very happy.

The two completed the case with a relatively low amount of dangerous situations. The signs of a good day. Chuck walked into the Pie Hole later, unable to shake the idea of Olive and Ned together on a trip to the border. "Chuck!" she heard from across the restaurant. She turned around in time to see a flurry of blonde before she felt arms encircle her neck, the body slamming against her knocking the wind from her lungs.

"Oh, Chuck!" Olive said hanging from her neck and looking up at her with shining eyes, "I missed you so much."

"I mi-"

Before Chuck could even finish, Olive's lips were pressed against hers, tongue probing for entrance. All the tension that had built up in Chuck during the day melted away when their tongues came together, massaging each other.

When someone cleared their throat loudly, Olive pulled away, a smile on her face, "I almost forgot." She let go of Chuck's neck, dropping to the floor and taking Chuck's hand. "This is my girlfriend, Chuck," she said proudly to two men the brunette had just noticed standing over in the kitchen.

"Chuck," Olive continued, "This is Buster and Jerry."

The Dead Girl felt a blush rise up in her cheeks, standing before the two people that Olive had come to see as father figures. "H-hello, sirs," Chuck said shakily, offering a nervous smile.

The two men came over to Chuck, enveloping her in a warm hug. "So you're the one our Snook couldn't stop talking about," Buster said smiling at the brunette.

"I can see why," Jerry said looking over at Olive, "she's a looker."

Chuck's blush only deepened and Olive giggled, holding the taller woman's arm to her chest. "I know," she said kissing her lightly on the Chuck's ever-blushing cheek.

"I must say," Buster said, "we were a little shocked when our girl here told us she had a girlfriend. But then we saw how happy she was when she talked about you, and we knew she had found a good one."

"Thank you," she said quietly, almost unable to form a through sentence. "You take care of our girl," Jerry said winking at Chuck. She nodded, tongue still heavy in her mouth. The two men gave her a hug before embracing Olive. "We'll go get ready," Buster said motioning toward the restroom. Olive nodded and turned to Chuck, "Will you go wait for me upstairs. I need to smuggle those two out of here and then I'll be right up."

"You have a lot of explaining to do," Chuck said squeezing Olive's hand, "Don't take too long."

"Ten minutes," the blonde said. Chuck went up to the apartment, shedding the outer of her many layers and warming up some tea. But the time the tea was in the cup, Olive walked through the door. Coming up behind her, Olive wrapped her arms around Chuck's middle, burying her face in her shoulder blades. The brunette rubbed the hand around her waist and turned around so they were facing each other.

"I made you tea."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Olive kissed Chuck's jaw, "I have so much to tell you."

"Do tell."

"Well, at first Buster and Jerry thought Ned was my boyfriend."

"I know."

"What? How did you know we had to pretend to be engaged?"

"_Engaged?_"

"Yeah. Well."

"Why?"

"Because I kinda told them that Ned was my boyfriend and stuff before I even met you. And then I met and, well, you know all that. And I never mentioned him again but I never told them it was all a lie."

"Oh. Wow."

"Yeah…but then I couldn't take it anymore. I hated lying to them and I hated pretending with Ned because all I could think of was you. I wanted to tell them about you so badly. So I did. I told them I was lying and then I told them about you. And they love you and they have been successfully smuggled. And I couldn't be happier right now."

"You had an interesting day."

"I missed you."

"Well it's a good thing I didn't. I was peeved enough as it was."

"Peeved?

"You and Ned out gallivanting your relationship, conjuring up old feelings. I would have been so jealous."

"You're jealous of Ned?"

"Well, yeah. You liked him forever. You've known him longer. I was afraid you two would realize what you were missing out on and get together."

"Chuck," Olive said stroking the side of her face, "Trust me. Ned and I are just friends and will always be friends. I did have feelings for him but they never compared to how I feel about you."

Chuck kissed Olive deeply, hands resting on the blonde's hips, rubbing lightly. Olive moaned softly, deepening the kiss and pressing her body to Chuck's. Their breasts pushed together and Olive jumped up, wrapping her legs around Chuck's waist. The brunette put her hands under the petite woman's bottom to hold her up, breaking the kiss.

"What about the tea?" she asked. Olive raised an eye brow, "Seriously? You're thinking about tea right now?"

Giggling, Chuck resumed the kiss and carried Olive out of the kitchen to the bedroom.


	25. Water and Power

**So. I felt like I was a little over due for some smut…and there wasn't a lot of cholive-ness in this episode or room to make more cholive-ness…so it worked out!!! I think I might go an extra chapter or two AFTER the show ends…but only a few. I would like to thank Grumbello and Courtney Dax for the wonderful reviews. Much appreciated. Enjoy!**

**Water and Power**

Olive was sleeping peacefully, Chuck's head on her shoulder. Her eyes were open, trained on the glowing display of the clock on their nightstand. She blinked expectantly, her stomach turning with every minute that passed as the fingers of her right hand drummed on Olive's stomach, her other arm tucked under her. She had been unable to rest all night, sleep evading her and replaced with the jittery feeling in her bones. After what was hours, the time she had been waiting for blinked on the clock and she nudged Olive happily.

"Olive," she said poling her side. The blonde remained unphased, snoring lightly. "Sweetie," Chuck said with a little more force. The other woman groaned and rolled her head away from the brunette. "Oooolive," she said in a singsong voice, kissing her neck lightly. She peppered her neck with light kisses, slowly moving to her cheek. She carefully covered the sleeping woman's body with own, still littering her face with kisses. Chuck pressed a light kiss to her lips. "Olive," she said against the sleeping blonde's pursed lips.

She squirmed slightly, eyes blinking as she woke. "What? What is it? What's wrong?" Olive mumbled through her exhaustion. "Wake up, Love," Chuck said kissing her neck, sucking lightly. "Why?" Olive asked wrapping her arms around the brunette's body.

"It's 3:39."

"In the morning?" she asked in disbelief, looking at the clock, "Why would you wake me up s early?"

"You don't know?" Chuck asked raising herself up on her elbows slightly.

"I'm half asleep. Please don't make me think."

"It's our one year anniversary," Chuck smiled as she brushed a piece of hair from Olive's face and kissing her forehead.

"What? Really?"

"Yep. Right down to the minute," Chuck said continuing her kissed across Olive's face, "Exactly one year ago today, I marched into this apartment and made a complete fool of myself."

Olive laughed and held Chuck's face between her hands, looking up at her, "Well I'm glad you did," she said kissing her lightly, "But I wish you would have made a fool of yourself at a more reasonable time of day."

Chuck turned and kissed the blonde's palm, looking back at her and leaning instinctively into her touch, "I love you so much," she whispered.

"I love you too, Babe," came the reply before she brought the brunette's face down to hers, their mouths too occupied to say anymore. Kisses became more passionate and Olive ran her tongue over Chuck's lips, whose own tongue responded with fervor. Chuck wasted no time pulling Olive's nightgown over her head and depositing it on the floor, leaving her exposed save for her panties. She sat back on her feet, thighs pressed to either side of Olive's hips as she gazed at her tanned body. The chilled air and her arousal instantly hardened Olive's nipples, and Chuck covered the right one with her hand. The other hand ran from her sternum to her stomach, watching the muscles ripple under her fingers.

Olive moaned lightly, covering the hand on her breast with her own, encouraging Chuck to continue. So she leaned forward, capturing the taut flash of the other breast with her mouth, running her teeth over it. "Jiminy Cricket," Olive sighed, arching toward Chuck's mouth. She continued kissing down the tanned body of the petite woman, her kisses leaving wet spots on her skin. Kissing along her hipbone, she sucked on the skin covering the jutting bone above her panty line. Olive moaned in content and Chuck pulled away, a red mark already blooming on tan skin. She rested her chin on Olive's stomach, looking up at her, finger making unknown patterns on her stomach.

"Why are you stopping?" Olive asked wriggling slightly. "You're so full of questions," Chuck smiled, kissing her navel before sitting back on her feet once more, settling between Olive's legs and looking down at the anxious woman. "Hey," Olive panted slightly, "You're the one that woke me up at this ungodly hour."

"You're right," Chuck said rubbing Olive's thighs, "I guess I should make it up to you."

"Yes, you should," Olive sighed, "But don't think this-" she said smiling smugly, tugging on Chuck's shirt, "-is quite fair."

Returning the smile, Chuck pulled her shirt over her head and got off the bed, pushing her sleep pants and panties down in one swoop, stepping out of them and laying back over Olive. Their lips connected once more, tongues exploring the other's moth with familiarity. Chuck moved her kissed lower, taking extra time to suck on her well pronounced collar bone before continuing back down her stomach. She reached Olive's panties and hooked her fingers in the sides, looking up at her for permission.

The blonde's looked down at her through half hooded lids, lifting her hips and allowing Chuck to pull her panties down her legs and to the floor. She teased the inside of the tanned thighs with her teeth.

"Chuck," Olive said desperately. "A little wound up?" Chuck teased nipping her thigh dangerously close to her centre. "Any more and these sheets will be ruined," Olive said through gritted teeth, gasping when the brunette blew air over her core.

Chuck could smell the musty arousal radiating from the apex of Olive's thighs, sending a wave of heat to her own center. Sensing the blonde's need, Chuck dipped her tongue into her, pushing her hips back down to the bed when they rose to meet her mouth. She adjusted Olive's thigh so it was over her shoulder before thrusting her tongue into her once more, moving her mouth up and finding the aching bundle of nerves above her opening.

Tiny fingers wove into dark tresses, encouraging her. Teeth brushed lightly over the nerves and Olive's thighs began to quiver, a sign that Chuck knew that meant she was close. "Chuck, inside. Please," Olive said throwing her head back on the pillow. Her tongue never faltering, Chuck slipped two fingers into her, stroking with professional precision, hitting the spot she knew would take Olive over the edge. With only two more strokes, Olive arched off the bed, gasping for air, her hands grasping the sheets.

Chuck didn't stop until she felt Olive settle beneath her, kissing up her body until she reached her lips. Olive kissed back weakly, still trying to regain her breath. "Oh. My. God," she managed to choke out as Chuck settled against her side.

"Happy one year anniversary," Chuck said kissing her temple and laying a leg across Olive's.

"Can it be our one year anniversary everyday?" Olive asked, her head turning to face Chuck. She giggled and rubber her foot along the blonde's shins, "Was is nice?"

"Nice?" Olive snorted, "Try earth shattering. Better than Pearway to Heaven a' la mode with some extra heaven on the side."

Chuck kissed a tan shoulder and rubbed her hip, "I'm glad you enjoyed your anniversary sex."

"Enjoyed is an understatement," Olive murmured, her eyes struggling to stay open as fatigue weighed heavily on them.

"Goodnight, Love," Chuck said closing her own eyes. "Wait," Olive protested weakly, "What about-"

"Sssh," Chuck said silencing her with her lips, "Go to sleep. We'll just wake up and hour early."

Olive nodded with a smile and they both fell into sleep.


	26. Kerplunk

**First of all, THIS IS NOT THE LAST CHAPTER!!!!! There will be at least two other chapters after this. Sorry I haven't updated in a while but I just started school and I had to move in and first weekend activities and all that jazz. So. Here ya go. Enjoy! **

**Oh, and thanks again to the people who reviewed the last chapter. I love you all forever.**

**Kerplunk**

A month after their one-year anniversary "celebration", Olive and Chuck sat at a booth in the Pie Hole with Ned and Emerson. Chuck had a slice of pie in front of her with a candle stuck in it, Olive holding her arm, head rested casually on her shoulder.

"I swear, you two get more sickening every day," Emerson said looking at them with an eyebrow raised, "The PDA just gets worse and worse."

"Emerson," Olive said raising her head off of Chuck's shoulder, "Calm down. It's not like we're having sex on the table." Ned spit his coffee back into the cup in shock coughing. Chuck felt her cheeks grow hot and looked back down at her pie. "Anyways," Ned said wiping his mouth, "Happy half birthday, Chuck."

Olive placed her head back on Chuck's shoulder and squeezed her arm lovingly, "Yes, happy half birthday."

"I can't believe you remembered," Chuck said blowing out the candle. "How could we, you haven't shut up about it," Emerson said reaching under the table, "Here."

"Aw, First edition, signed by the author," Chuck said looking at the copy of _Little Gum Shoe_ Emerson had placed in front of her, "Thanks, Emerson."  
"And I'm still searching for my perfect gift," Ned said wringing his hands together. Olive slid a card in front of Chuck and kissed her shoulder. Chuck opened it and turned it over, gaping as tickets fell out of the envelope. "Four tickets to the Aquacade! Thanks, Olive," Chuck said kissing her lightly before looking back at the tickets in her hand. "That's not all," Olive said, "Your aunts are going to be there two. I made sure I got tickets that were across from them so they couldn't really see you but with some binoculars you'll be able to see them."

"You have no idea how happy I am right now," Chuck said kissing Olive's head. "It's okay. You can show me later," Olive said nudging Chuck suggestively with an eyebrow raised. Chuck giggled and kissed the crown of blonde hair. "Oh, come on," Emerson muttered looking away. The four of them went to the Aquacade, which was quickly dampened by the murder of Blanche. Later that next day, Chuck's aunts had made the announcement they were going to swim again. But all of these events paled in comparison to the moment Ned had sat her down to talk to her.

"Chuck," he began seriously. They were sitting across from each other in his apartment, cups clutched in their hands. "I was being selfish when I told you that you couldn't tell your aunts you were alive. I was afraid you would leave if you could talk to them again and I didn't want that, you're the best friend I have."

"What are you trying to say?" Chuck asked, emotion choking in her throat as hoped he was going to say the thing she most desperately wanted him say. "What I'm trying to say," he sighed, "is that I found the perfect present.

And that's how they ended up here, on Lily and Vivian's doorstep. Ned stood with a bottle of champagne, Olive was holding a pie and Chuck was in the middle with a bouquet of daisies. She could feel her stomach churning with anticipation, all the different possible scenarios running through her brain on overdrive. She held the flowers in one hand and lowered her other to wipe the sweat off on her dress. She felt Olive's tiny fingers lace through her own and she turned to look at her.

Olive smiled up at her and squeezed her hand reassuringly, "You'll be fine." Chuck brought Olive's hand to her lips and placed a lingering kiss on the back of it. Bringing their hands back to their sides, Chuck looked at the door and nodded. Ned knocked on the wood, the sound echoing her heartbeats. Her heart was pounding so fast it was almost painful as she heard the door turn from the inside.

Everything seemed to go in slow motion as the heavy wooden door creaked open and Lily and Vivian became visible. Their jaws dropped when they saw Chuck, three eyes blinking rapidly. "Lily, Vivian," Chuck said slowly, "I'm alive."

They continued to stare at her and Chuck stared back, unsure what to say. Olive squeezed her hand, encouraging her to say something. "I…can we come in?" Chuck asked tentatively.

Her voice seemed to knock the two sisters from their daze and Vivian ran up to her and wrapped her in a crushing hug, the daisies forgotten and crushed between their bodies. Chuck felt Vivian's tear soaking her shoulder as she rocked her back and forth. "Oh, Charlotte," she said hoarsely, "Charlotte, our Charlotte."

Tears stung her own eyes and she buried her face in Vivian's shoulder. "I missed you so much," Chuck said, "both of you." Vivian pulled back, hands on Chuck's shoulders and a smile on her face. Chuck turned to look at Lily whose face was contoured in a grimace as she tried to control the tears that were about to fall from her eyes. "Mom?" Chuck said quietly. Lily stared back at her, an unknown emotion passing over her face.

"You know? How did…who…?" Lily said, her one eye blinking at her, "You." She pointed a finger accusingly at Olive who was still clutching Chuck's hand.

"What? I had nothing to do with it," Olive said holding up her hands in surrender, "they all figured it out on their own."

"I think we need to explain some things," Ned said, switching from his prospecting position to an active one, "So maybe if we could go inside?"

"Oh, of course," Vivian said, dragging Chuck into the house by her arm as if she would disappear if she let go, "How rude of us."

She guided them into the living room on the couch, tentatively letting go of Chuck's arm as she sat on the couch across from them with Lily. "How are you alive?" Lily said without hesitation, "I saw…I had to identify you when…"

"Ned. It was all Ned," Chuck said trying to chase away her mother's tears, "he can touch things and bring them back to life."

"Damn it, is this another dream," Lily muttered, "I didn't think I had that much to drink."

"This isn't a dream," Ned said, "I can touch things and bring them back to life."

"Well that seems quite impossible," Vivian said. Without a word, Ned walked up to one of the stuffed birds and touched it. It suddenly sprang back to life, flapping its wings spastically. He touched it again and it returned to its previous state as though nothing had happened.

"Holy Jesus," Lily exclaimed, "I need a drink." Ned handed her the bottle of champagne and she opened it, taking a swig from the bottle. "So…you really are alive," Vivian said almost to herself.

Chuck nodded, "And I know that Lily is my mother."

"Who told you?" Lily asked taking another swig.

"Ned."

"And who told you?"

Ned fumbled with his hands, "Uh, um. I saw your picture. In the abbey. You were pregnant and I just put the dots together…"

"Oh, Charlotte," Vivian said as her tears started fresh, "I'm so happy you're alive! I'm so happy you're going to be living in this house with us again! It's been so lonely without you."

"Um…" Chuck said looking over at Olive who's face dropped, "actually…"

"Well, living with me anyways. I just kicked Lily out because she had an affair with Charles Charles."

"Uh, Vivian," Chuck said carefully, "I'm not moving back into the house. Into your lives, yes. But not the house. I'm living with my…someone."

"Oh, well Chuck that's wonderful!" Vivian said, "Who is this young gentleman?"

'Uh…hm…well…" Chuck looked nervously at Olive who reached out and took her hand reassuringly.

"You're a dyke?" Lily said before taking a longer swig of the champagne. "Mother, Vivian," Chuck said formally, "This is my girlfriend, Olive."

"Oh, cut the crap we know who she is," Lily said waving the bottle towards them, "She's here more than anyone."

"How long have you two had relations?" Vivian asked quietly. "One year," Chuck said with a smile, "One year, one week and three days." The two smiled at each other before looking back at the aunts.

"Well, if it had to be a woman. I guess I'm glad it was you," Lily said, "But if you hurt Charlotte, better believe you'll have a musket pointed at that pretty little head of yours."

"Yes, ma'am," Olive said folding her hands in her lap, "I'll take good care of your daughter."

Lily looked as if she was going to be overcome with emotions once more before she gestured towards the pan in front of Olive, "Is that pie?"

Olive slid it towards her and she put a slice on a plate, "Thank you."

"Well," Vivian said, "I'm afraid you did come at the most inopportune time. I was just kicking Lily out of the house. So Lily, I think you should leave now."

"Fine," she said standing up, her pie still in her hands, "I don't know where you expect me to go. But I'll go."

"Mom, come stay with us," Chuck blurted out, "We have a spare bedroom."

She looked between the two women with her good eye and nodded, "Okay. Let me get my stuff."

"Charlotte, I hate to see you leaving so soon after you've gotten here," Vivian said, tears welling up once more. "I'll come back, all the time," Chuck promised, "and come to the Pie Hole whenever you want. I'm always there."

Vivian nodded and Chuck went over to her, giving her another lasting hug. "Well, let's get outta here," Lily said walking unceremoniously out of the door. Chuck squeezed her aunt one last time and kissed her cheek.

"You should come to the Pie Hole later," Chuck said. Vivian nodded and watched as the three of them walked out the door after Lily.


	27. After the Fact

**Woooh! Second from last chapter! Thanks for the review Grumbello! They always make me laugh. Virtual going away party? Lol. I'll bring the dip.**

**After the Fact**

"So this," Chuck said gesturing to the apartment as her, Olive and Lily walked in, "is our apartment."

"Our?" Lily asked setting down her suitcase and shotgun. "Mine and Olive's," Chuck said walking over to the bedroom and throwing a hand towards it. "This is our room and this," she continued pointing to a room next to it, "will be yours."

"You two live here?" Lily asked from her spot in the door, "together?"

"Yep," Chuck said with a smile as she looked over at Olive who was sitting nervously on the couch.

"Oh…" she said looking around the apartment, "Well, I guess I'll put my stuff away." She walked into the spare room and set her stuff on the bed as she began to unpack.

Chuck sat besides Olive on the couch and took her hand, "I'm sorry I didn't ask you about this before I offered," Chuck said looking into the spare room.

"It's fine," Olive said leaning against here, "You need this time to connect with Lily. She is your mother after all."

"Thank you," Chuck said pecking her on the lips, "I still need to show you how thankful I am for those tickets." The brunette raised an eyebrow and pressed their lips together again, this time longer. "Your mother is in the next room," Olive said placing a hand on Chuck's collarbone and gently pushing her away.

"Later tonight of course," Chuck said leaning in to kiss her again, "when she's asleep. And our bedroom door is locked."

"As long as you can control your volume," Olive said between kisses.

"Hey, you're the loud one."

"Whatever."

Placing a hand behind Olive's head, Chuck brought them closer, deepening the kiss and eliciting a soft sigh from the blonde. "Hey, do you have a gun cabinet?"

Lily walked up behind them and they two lovers sprang apart, both flushed from embarrassment as well as from their recent activity before they were interrupted. Lily had her gun pointed towards Olive and she looked at her, the question seeming more like a threat then inquiry.

"No, Mom. Er…Lily," Chuck said straightening her skirt. Olive was staring straight into the muzzle of the shotgun, shaking her head wildly. "I guess I'll just have to put it under the bed," Lily muttered as she walked back into the room.

"Your mother is going to kill me," Olive said putting a hand to her chest, "We can't have any PDA anymore."

"That wasn't technically PDA," Chuck said, "We are in our apartment."

"Well, we can't show any sort of affection in front of your mother," Olive said scooting away from Chuck as she scooted closer. "She's just getting used to it, she'll be fine," Chuck said getting even closer to Olive.

"Chuck," Olive said holding a hand out to stop her from coming any closer, "We should be at least two feet away at all times."

"Olive!" Chuck said in disbelief, "She's just being the overprotective mother. We can finally have that normal relationship!"

"Normal relationship?"

"Yes. You're the first girlfriend and it's my mother's job to torture you. You can be the head cheerleader and I'm the freshman cheerleader you took under your wing but eventually fell in love with. We can sneak around and make out behind the bleacher."

"Honey, is this part of a role play thing? 'Cause all you had to do was ask-"

"Not in that sense. Get your mind out of the gutter. It was a euphemism."

"We can euphemis all you want, hun. Just not in front of your mother."

As if on cue, Lily walked out of the bedroom and sat on the chair opposite of Chuck and Olive. "We need to discuss some things," she said with authority.

"Okay, what do you want to discuss?" Chuck said folding her hands neatly on her lap.

Lily paused, gulping slightly, "I've missed you, Charlotte. And I'm sorry I never told you I was your mother. I was just trying to protect Vivian."

"I know," Chuck said with a sad smile, "I understand."

"And you can call me mom…if you want…it might take me a while to respond to it…"

"Okay…Mom."

Lily nodded at her, and looked down at her hands. Chuck went over to her and hugged her tightly. She heard the older woman sniff as she wrapped her arms around her in return. "You can stay here as long as you want," Chuck said squeezing her.

"Thanks," Lily said, "Who knows when Vivian will let me back in the house."

"Well, aren't you guys going on your Europe tour with the Aquacade?" Olive asked as Chuck sat back down besides her.

"We haven't signed the contract yet…so I guess not."

"No, you have to go on tour! This would be such a good opportunity for you two to get back in the water."

"Well, we can't be in synch if she hates me so there's no way we could perform."

"Lily might come to the Pie Hole later, you should talk to her."

"Speaking of the Pie Hole," Olive said getting up and straightening her skirt, "I should go down to work. It'll give you two some time to catch up."

Chuck captured her hand and tugged Olive down into a brief kiss before she could protest. "By, love," Chuck smiled as Olive looked at her in horror and back at her Lily. "Yeah, bye," Lily said, her eye never leaving Olive as she walked nervously out the door.

Chuck and Lily spent the next few hours talking and catching up. Olive had closed the Pie Hole up so it was almost midnight when she came home. Chuck was on the couch, curled up in the corner with a book resting on her knees and her legs tucked under her.

"Hey, babe," Chuck said closing the book, "How did everything go?"

"Fine," Olive said as her eyes darted around the room nervously, "Where's Lily?"

"She went to bed," Chuck said setting the book on the coffee table and opening her arms out for Olive to fill, "she's out like a light bulb."

"Are you sure?" Olive said walking slowly over to Chuck, her eyes on the bedroom door. She was just in reach of Chuck who leaned forward, catching her around the waist and bringing her down on her lap. "Positive," she said kissing her jaw. Olive was straddling Chuck's thighs, but her eyes remained on the door, "Absolutely positively sure?"

"Absolutely positively," Chuck said kissing her slender neck. Olive's attention still remained on the door and Chuck nipped her pulse point lightly, trying to get her to focus on her instead. Olive gasped and tightened her hold on the brunette's shoulders who smiled when she realized she was successful.

Olive angled her chin so that she could capture her lips in a soft passionate kiss. Chuck's hand was on Olive's knee, rubbing slightly as it began to inch up her leg. It slipped under her skirt, thumb brushing her inner thigh carefully. Olive shifted, pressing closer to Chuck.

They both jumped apart when they heard the bedroom door open with force, Olive quickly standing to her feet and taking a long step away from Chuck. Lily was standing in the doorway with her shotgun pointed in Olive's direction.

"I thought I heard something," she said looking at the frightened and embarrassed blonde. "No, it's just us, Mom," Chuck said with a smile. Lily nodded slowly and retreated back into the bedroom.

Olive shut her eyes, hand on her chest dramatically, "I told you she's gonna kill me."

"You're so melodramatic," Chuck said getting up from the couch and walking towards the bedroom. She leaned of the door frame and gave Olive her best 'come hither' look before disappearing behind the door. It was only a few seconds later when Olive appeared in the bedroom after her, leaning on the door and staring at Chuck.

The brunette had already begun to undress, leaving her only in a bra and panties. She reached for her pajamas but Olive rushed over to her and held her from behind, stopping her. "What are you doing?" she asked kissing behind her shoulder blades, "putting clothes on would be counter productive."

Smiling, Chuck turned in Olive's arms and pulled her into a heated kiss, rubbing her tanned biceps. Their kisses slowed and they rested their foreheads together, smiling at the other. "I've missed you," Olive said kissing her lightly once more. "I missed you too," Chuck said kissing along her jaw and down her neck, sucking at her pulse point. Olive moaned, "Did you lock the door?"

"I don't need to," Chuck said against Olive's neck.

"She might come in."

"She won't."

"She might. We better lock it."

Chuck brushed the underside of Olive's breast and her eyes fluttered shut in ecstasy. "She won't," Chuck whispered against her lips. She drew her bottom lip into her mouth, sucking lightly while moving her hand up to cup her breast, her thumb brushing over her nipple.

Olive pressed their hips together, trying to get as close to Chuck as possible. Their tongues explored each other's mouths as they backed towards the bed. When Chuck's thighs bumped the mattress, she began to undo the buttons on the front of Olive's dress, her fingers dancing over each piece of newly exposed flesh.

The blonde bit her lip as Chuck traced her collar bone with her tongue, dipping into the hollow of her throat before kissing along her sternum. Olive tangled her tiny fingers into Chuck's hair as she moved lower, lowering her dress as she went. A guttural moan escaped Olive's parted lips a little louder then it should have been and Chuck shushed her before swirling her tongue around her belly button.

No sooner then she shushed her, the bedroom door came bursting open and Lily stood in the doorway, her shotgun cocked and ready to fire. Olive squeaked and dove under the covers of the bed to hide herself while Chuck remained on her knees, hands limp at her sides.

"Mom!" Chuck said trying to cover herself with her hands.

"Sorry," Lily said blinking in shock, "I thought I heard a burglar." She shuffled out of the bedroom, her eye still wide with shock and Chuck quickly put her pajamas on.

"Your mama is messing up my mojo!" came Olive's muffled voice from under the comforter.

"I'm sorry, babe," Chuck said trying to determine which bump in the comforter was Olive's head. She pulled the blanket down until she saw blue eyes peeking out from the top. She kissed between her eyes, "I really am sorry. I'll have a talk with her. Okay?" Olive nodded and pulled the comforter back over her head.

"Hey, don't get too comfortable in there," Chuck said giving a smack to what she assumed was Olive's bottom before walking out of the bedroom.

Lily was sitting on the couch, the shotgun balanced on her lap. "Mom," Chuck began as she sat across from her, "What's up?"

She looked at her daughter before looking away. "Things were so much easier when you just stayed inside and didn't chase after boys. Well, I guess it was the girls we had to worry about," she said, her voice trailing away.

"Mom," Chuck began, "I know this is a lot for you to process right now. With me being alive and a lesbian and all that. But I need you to understand that I love Olive, with all of my heart. And yes, we are…intimate-"

"I've noticed."

"But we need our time without you threatening her. You have her scared half to death."

"I just don't want anything bad to happen to you. You know that."

"Yes, I do. But Olive takes good care of me. And you have her cowering in the bedroom right now, convinced you're going to charge in and shoot her for looking at me."

"Chuck, this is your first…relationship."

"No, it's not."

"It's not? When did this happen?"

"I had a girlfriend in high school…we were together for nine months. But she broke up with me when I wouldn't tell you and Vivian about her."

"Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because I was supposed to take care of you and prevent things from hurting you. I didn't know if you would take it hard and freak out. I didn't want to be the cause of your pain."

"Oh, Charlotte. We would have accepted it. Yes, it mighta take a few drinks to get over it. But we would have never shunned you."

"I know that now."

There was a silence between them before Lily spoke again. "So you and Olive…heavy stuff, huh?"

"Yes. I want to spend the rest of my life with her."

"Well, she better not knock you up."

"I think that's kinda impossible."

"Hey, we have cable," Lily said, "I've seen some strange crap. Who knows what kinda equipment she's got under there."

Chuck laughed and hugged her mother tightly. "Thank you, mom."

"Your welcome. Well, I guess I going to go to bed."

"Night."

"Night."

Chuck walked back into the bedroom where Olive was still cowering in under the covers. "Hey," Chuck said bouncing on the bed, "you can come out now."

Olive poked her head out from the covers, "Is she gonna kill me for touching you?"

"Nope."

"Are you sure?"

"Yep. We had 'The Talk'."

"'The Talk'?"

"Yes. You're not allowed to knock me up."

"Good thing we use birth control then."

They both laughed and Chuck covered Olive's body with her own. "Well," she said kissing her nose, "Now that we're protected from any unwanted children…where did we leave off?" And they picked up exactly where they had stopped.


	28. The End Beginning

**Last chapter…sadness…shed a small tear. *sigh*. I don't know when my next Cholive fic will be…because I'm working on an original short story thang that Ima post on livejournal…so if anyone has livejournal, please check it out. My username is thatgirl_65. And by anyone, I mean you Grumbello. Because no doubt, you are the only on that's going to read this. Because you seem to be my only reader. But that's okay. I've come to terms with that. I like you. And I like your comments. We will have to settle for soft drinks because I too am unable to attain alcohol. Virtual or otherwise. We should get pony rides. Everyone loves pony rides. Lol. So, Grumbello, I dedicate this chapter to you. No, no. I dedicate this whole fic to you. Because you read and comment on them. For that I will always love you. [insert cheesy music here]. Enjoy.**

**The ****End**** Beginning**

Much to the relief of Olive, Lily stopped pointing the shotgun at her and it remained under her bed. Most of the time. Much to Chuck's relief, Olive and her mother were getting along wonderfully.

But Olive had been acting strange lately, slightly jumpy and nervous. She had noticed that Olive would disappear for long intervals of time. One night when she came home, Chuck went to kiss her, casually slipping her hands into the pockets of the blonde's dress, making her jump and push Chuck away. Also, her and Ned would always share looks where the Pie Maker would look at her expectantly and Olive would simply shake her head curtly. They would both look at Chuck, quickly looking back down when they realized she was looking back.

"Is there something you want to tell me?" Chuck asked, slightly irritated when the two had another look. "No," Olive said quickly taking another bite of her pancakes. Chuck glared at her and went back to putting pies in the oven.

Lily and Vivian had worked out their differences and Lily was going to move back into the house. Chuck was happy they had worked it out and they were able to go on their tour, but at the same time she was saddened to see her mother go.

The day was perfect. Light filtered into the windows of the Pie Hole, warming Chuck and Olive's bodies as they sat on opposite sides of a booth facing each other and drinking tea. Olive was casually playing with Chuck's hand as it rested on the top of the table. Her tiny fingers ran up and down the length of Chuck's long slender ones, caressing and rubbing each joint carefully.

"Chuck," Olive said quietly. "Mhm," came a lazy reply. "You know I love you right?" Olive asked. The sun lit her hair perfectly, golden locks glowing around her face.

"Of course," Chuck said lightly.

"You know I would do anything for you?"

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just answer the question."

"Yes, of course."

"That I will love you until the end of time?"

"And I you."

"That I want to grow old together? Well, grow old but still say we're 28, even when we're 50."

"Yes."

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way. What's with all these questions?"

"Be patient, I only have one more."

"Oka-"

Chuck felt a thin strip of metal placed over her ring finger, the cool metal quickly warming with her heat. Her eyes flew to her hand, looking at the ring Olive had slipped onto her finger, metal and diamond sparkling hopefully in the light. Her eyes flitted up to Olive's, blue pools glistening.

"Will you marry me?" she said in almost a whisper. Chuck felt the tears cascade down her face, her throat too constricted with emotion to speak. Instead she nodded her head furiously and Olive rushed to her side, enveloping her in her arms.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes one thousand times yes!" Chuck managed through tears. Olive put her hands on either side of the brunette's face and began kissing every inch of it.

"I love you," she said through her own tears as she kissed Chuck, "I love you so much."

"Well it's about time." Both women turned around and saw Lily standing in the middle of the Pie Hole dining room with Vivian at her side. "You asked my permission weeks ago," she continued, "it's about time you got the balls to ask."

"You asked permission?" Chuck asked Olive. "Yeah, she did," her mother said shifting her suitcase to the other hand, "Lord knows why she was so nervous though. It's not like you were going to say no."

"Oh, I think it's all so lovely," Vivian said airily, "It's only proper to be nervous before asking for someone's hand."

"Well, we're gonna head out," Lily said, obviously trying to hold back her own emotion, "Let you two enjoy your premarital bliss or whatever."

Chuck walked over to her mother and gave her a hug, kissing her cheek with daughterly affection. With that, she couldn't hold on to her stoic face, and a tear began to trickle down from her one good eye. "I'm glad you're happy," Lily said, "Everyone deserves to have that someone."

The two sisters left, leaving Ned and the two women. "Did you know about this?" Chuck asked Ned, "is that what those looks were about?"

Ned smiled sheepishly and shrugged. Chuck wouldn't let go of Olive, still holding her in her arms and kissing the crown of her head. "You know," Ned began, "it's not that busy today. I think you two should have the rest of the day off."

"Thanks, Ned," Olive said walking over to him and standing on her tip toes to kiss his cheek. They went to the apartment and collapsed on the bed. Olive scooted back so her back was resting on the headboard and pat the bed between her legs, encouraging Chuck to sit between them. She complied, her back pressing to Olive's front, her head resting on her shoulder.

Chuck held her left hand in front of her, staring at the ring with adoration. "It's not much," Olive said kissing behind her ear, "I am a waitress you know."

"I think its perfect," Chuck sighed. "It looks a little big," Olive said twisting it on her finger, "I'll get that fixed."

"No!" Chuck said holding her hand to her chest, "I'm never taking it off. You're going to have to cut my finger off to get to it."

"Never taking it off?" Olive asked skeptically as she angled herself to kiss Chuck's neck lightly, "What about when we-"

"Nope. Never."

They sat in silence for a few moments before Chuck spoke again. "You know," she started, "Now that Lily has moved out…that empty room is going to look all lonely and depressing…"

"It is, isn't it?"

"Yeah. We're going to have to find someway to fill it."

"You know…we could fit a crib in that one corner."

"We could. And in the other corner a rocking chair."

"Sounds perfect."

Chuck kissed the side of Olive's jaw and looked back at her hand where the ring now resided. She smiled to herself, unsurpassable amounts of joy filling up her heart. "It is perfect," she said quietly, "and this is just the beginning."


	29. PreWedding Frustrations

**Okay. So I know I deemed this fic completed. But I've been bored lately and so I wrote a chapter of smut that fit into this story. It picks up where the last chapter leaves off I suppose. Idk. I'm just lame I guess. But, I am working on a fic on my LJ account if you wanna check that out and tell me what you think. I'd love you forever. Here's the link: ****.com/**

**Pre-Wedding Frustrations**

"Have you noticed there's always someone in our apartment?" Olive said, her hands working mechanically as she wiped off the counter of the Pie Hole. "What do you mean?" Chuck asked locking the double doors.

"Ever since we got engaged, there's always someone in the apartment asking something about the wedding. Or planning something for the wedding. Or asking something on planning something for the wedding," Olive said as she started to put chairs on the tables, "We never have any time for ourselves."

"Olive, we've been engaged for a week. I'm sure things will die down," Chuck said helping the blonde at her task.

"No, it'll only get worse," Olive countered, "I never get you to myself. By the time everyone leaves we're too tired to…enjoy each other."

Chuck looked at Olive with a raised eyebrow, a sly smile on her face. The blonde blushed slightly and continued clearing the booth of plates and wiping it clean. "I'm just saying," she said setting the plates on another table so she could clean the booth.

"So basically," she said slowly, sauntering over to her lover, "you're saying we don't get enough time for this." She wrapped her arms around the blonde from behind, molding their bodies perfectly together, "Or this." She kissed her neck softly, practically feeling the blonde turn to putty in her arms as she nipped and sucked the tender flesh. Her hand rubbed a slow circle on the petite woman's stomach, slowly inching up until she cupped a supple breast. "Or this," she breathed into Olive's ear, smiling when the blonde's eyes fluttered shut and a short gasp came from her parted lips.

"Is that what you're saying?" Chuck asked before reconnecting her lips to Olive's neck. She nodded dumbly, tilting her head to the side so Chuck would have better access. Chuck pressed into Olive, her hips bumping the table in front of her.

"Chuck," Olive sighed, making feeble attempts at pushing her away from her neck, "We're in the Pie Hole."

"So?" Chuck said innocently as she kissed her shoulder.

"Aren't there health codes? Violations? Not to mention the fact that anymore could walk – oh god."

Chuck's hand had pressed lower, slipping under Olive's short uniform, fingers dancing over cotton panties. "We could stop if you want," the brunette said as she stroked the damp material. She began to pull her hand away but Olive whimpered and pulled her back.

"Are you sure?" Chuck teased, "What about the health codes?"

"The health codes can go to hell," Olive said, gasping as Chuck's finger danced carefully in the rim of her panties. The brunette took Olive's earlobe between her teeth and pulled gently. Olive moaned and her knees buckled. "I can't. Stand," she managed between strangled breaths.

Chuck swiftly turned the petite woman around to face her and held the back of her thighs, lifting her up and setting her on the table. "This is definitely not sanitary," Olive murmured before Chuck covered her lips with her own.

Chuck pulled away once more, "Like I said, we could sto-"

Olive tangled the dark tresses between her small fingers and pulled Chuck's lips back to their place against her own. She gently parted Olive's lips with her tongue, enjoying the sigh that the blonde issued in ecstasy.

She pushed up Olive's uniform so that the bottom was bunched around her waist, exposing the red cotton panties she was wearing underneath. Chuck pulled them off and Olive hissed when her bottom hit the cold counter she was sitting on.

"Remind me to clean this table again," she murmured as Chuck lowered herself to her knees, pulling Olive's hips closer to the edge and putting her legs over her shoulders.

"I'm between your legs, and all you can think about is cleaning a table?" Chuck said laying her head on Olive's thigh and running her fingers teasingly up and down it. "I just don't want to forget," Olive trailed off as Chuck's hand got higher.

"We could go back to the apartment," Chuck said blowing lightly on Olive's center, "but I think Simone had said something about flower arrangements…"

"No, stay. Just. Please," Olive whimpered and gently pulled at Chuck's hair, encouraging her to make contact with her aching center. Chuck laughed gently before nuzzling her fiancee's curls, taking in her scent.

She touched the aching bundle of nerves with the tip of her tongue, pushing Olive's hips back down to the table when they bucked involuntarily. Chuck continued her rhythm and Olive grasped the edges of the table. Her knuckles turned white as she held onto the edges with all her might when she was about to come.

"Chuck," she whimpered when the waves of pleasure took over her body. When her orgasm subsided, Chuck climbed on the table next to her and lay on her side, cupping Olive's face.

"Are you okay?" she asked kissing her cheek, a sheen of perspiration gleaming on her face. "Am I okay?" Olive squeaked, "Isn't that one of the dumbest questions I ever heard."

"Is that a yes?" Chuck laughed.

Olive nodded dumbly, "I am better than okay. I am amazing. I haven't felt this good since we got engaged."

"I'm not sure if I should be offended by that."

"Don't be, babe, I didn't mean it like that. Just kiss me before I say something else stupid."

Chuck brought their lips together in a slow kiss. Olive's hand drifted down Chuck's face to her neck, a finger hooking in the front of her low cut shirt. "I guess I owe you, don't I?" Olive said with a sly smile.

"Maybe we should go back up to our apartment for that," Chuck said kissing Olive's nose. She wrinkled her nose in confusion, "I thought you said Simone was coming up to talk about flowers."

"No, I said she mentioned flowers. I actually told everyone to save the questions and arrangements for tomorrow so we could have a night to ourselves."

"What? So we-? On the table-? And we could have been in our apartment?" Olive sputtered as she sat up.

"What can I say? I've always wanted to do it in the Pie Hole," Chuck said shrugging innocently, a smile playing at her lips. Olive smacked her arm, "Charlotte Charles! I can't believe you! We could have been caught!"

"That's part of the fun," Chuck said kissing her once more before walking towards the door and heading up to the apartment, waiting for an exhausted Olive to catch up.

"You are in so much trouble when I get up the strength to get revenge," Olive said slumping against the door of their apartment. Chuck swept the tiny blonde in her arms and brought her into a long kiss, enjoying the feel of Olive turning to putty in her arms.

"You better open that door before I take you right here," Olive said against Chuck's lips. She laughed and proceeded to open the door before turning back to Olive. "Did you clean the table?" Chuck asked.

"Oh, crap," Olive said putting a hand to her forehead, "You know what, it's just gonna have to wait 'till tomorrow."

"Just think of the health violations!" Chuck said in mock dismay before Olive pushed her through the door and into the bedroom.


	30. Popping the Question

**I realize it's been forever since I've added onto this. But I felt the impulse to write more. So here we go! There's going to be at least one other chapter after this as well. So please, tell me what you think!**

**Popping the Question**

"I want a baby."

"Well good morning to you too," Olive yawned, just barely waking from a long nights sleep. She was laying on her side facing Chuck, their hands linked on the pillow between them, their matching wedding rings contrasting against the white fabric.

"I want a baby," Chuck repeated scooting closer to her wife. Olive blinked in an attempt to get the sleep from her eyes and squeezed Chuck's hand, "Are you serious?"

Chuck nodded, searching Olive's face for a clue as to what she was thinking, "What do you say? Do you want to make a baby?" Olive was silent for a few moments before speaking, "You know what dream I had last night?"

"Olive, I'm trying to talk to you about something serious."

"I had a dream that we were sitting in the Pie Hole eating pie and Ned was there and Emerson was there," Olive continued, "and a baby was there. Our baby. Our beautiful baby. We were just one big happy family and I remember thinking that this was it. This was all I needed and I could be happy, for the rest of my life."

Chuck's smile spread all the way across her face and she squeezed Olive's hip, "Is that a yes?"

"Well," Olive sighed, "It was either a baby or a puppy. And honestly, I think Digby would get kinda jealous if we had another canine running around."

Olive smiled at Chuck who returned it, "So we can make a baby?"

The blonde nodded and Chuck squealed, throwing her arms around her neck and kissing her wife hard on the lips. "You know we can't actually make a baby ourselves, right?" Olive said rubbing between Chuck's shoulder blades.

"Of course I do," Chuck said swatting Olive's hip, "I wasn't that sheltered."

"So, do you want to adopt? Or do that artificial turkey baister thing?" Olive said.

"You make it sound so eloquent."

"It's true."

"I don't know what do you want to do?"

"I feel like I want a child that's actually apart of me. A part of us. You know?"

"I agree," Chuck smiled, kissing Olive's nose. She scooted closer, rubbing her nose on Chuck's cheek and burying her face in the crook of her neck.

"Who we gonna get to be the baby daddy?" Olive said. Chuck snorted and brought Olive closer, "I always thought that, you know, if we made this decision, that it would be…I mean maybe we could ask…"

"A certain man with a knack for making pies?" Olive finished.

"Well, yeah. I mean. I don't know, that's if you want to. I mean, we could go with an anonymous donor. It would just be kinda nice to know what they looked like so we could avoid ugly children and certain diseases."

"I think it's a good idea."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Now we just have to ask him."

"That'll be awkward. 'Hi, Ned! Mind if we borrow some of your baby making juice?'"

"That sounds so wrong."

"Straight and to the point."

"Maybe too much so. I think we're going to have to go about this delicately. You know how cautious Ned is."

"True."

"I'll talk to him later."

Olive simply sighed in response and snuggled closer to Chuck who couldn't help but smile.

It had been a week since Olive and Chuck had talked about having a baby. They hadn't talked to Ned about it yet, losing the nerve every time they tried. "We should invite him over for dinner tonight and ask him then," Olive said taking a pie out of the oven.

"Sounds like a plan," Chuck said walking out into the dining room, almost running into Ned who expertly dodged the contact.

"Watch out," he said steadying himself by grasping the wall. "Hey, Ned," Chuck began, seemingly unfazed by the almost fatal touching, "Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?"

"Um, sure. What's the occasion?" he asked wiping his hands on his apron.

Chuck blushed and shook her head, "Nothing just…dinner."

"Are you sure? You look kind of flustered for it to be just dinner. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's nothing to worry about, I promise," Chuck said offering Ned an awkward smile. He smiled back and they went about their business.

Later that night, Chuck and Olive sat nervously on the couch, waiting for Ned to arrive. Dinner had already been cooked and was waiting in the kitchen. "Are you nervous?" Olive asked nudging Chuck. She nodded dumbly and stared straight at the door. "Me too," Olive whispered. Just then there was a knock at the door and both women jumped up at the same time to answer it.

"Oh, sorry," they said simultaneously after running into each other, "I'll get it. No, you get it."

Chuck sighed, "I'll get it." Olive nodded and headed off to the kitchen. When Chuck opened the door, Ned was standing holding a basket of muffins. "Hey," he said holding out the basket, "I made you muffins. I was going to make a pie, but I figured we all get enough pie in a day and it might be nice for a little break."

"Thanks, Ned, they smell wonderful," Chuck said taking the basket and ushering him inside. The dinner went over quietly and awkwardly. Chuck and Olive kept exchanging glances, silently asking the other if it was time to ask and always coming up with 'no'. Ned would glance between them awkwardly, not sure what was going on. He finally set down his fork and spoke up.

"I'm not sure what's going on here," he said nervously, "but I'm starting to get very uncomfortable. What is it that you guys want to tell me so badly?"

The two women looked at each other, and Chuck was the first to speak. "Ned, me and Olive have decided to have a baby," she said her voice wavering, "and we were wondering if you would be the father."

Ned stared at them, his mouth open in shock. "Of course, it would all be very…sterile…if you know what I mean," Chuck rambled, "You wouldn't need to actually touch Olive. Oh yeah, she's the one carrying the baby. I didn't think it should be me if it's you who would be the father, if you agree of course, because I'm assuming no part of you, fluid or otherwise, could touch me at all."

"You wouldn't have to make love to anything but a cup," Olive interjected awkwardly, causing Ned to furrow his eyebrows at her.

"This is awkward," he mumbled.

"I'm sorry, Ned, this is all becoming so weird," Chuck said, "we didn't mean for it to be like this. But, please. Would you let us have your….your…"

"Baby making juice," Olive finished awkwardly.

Ned gulped and closed his mouth. "I think you two would make wonderful mothers," he began.

"But?" Chuck said unable to hide her disappointment.

"No, no but just…when?" Ned said with an awkward smile.

Both women squealed in happiness and Olive jumped up and hugged Ned tightly, "That's from Chuck too," she said. Chuck wrapped her arms around herself and looked at Ned smiling. _Thank you_, she mouthed to him. Ned just smiled his warm smile and Chuck's heart overflowed with joy.


	31. Christmas Time at the Pie Hole

**Wooh another chapter. Mostly because I really wanted to write something Christmassy and mostly because I couldn't just leave it with the baby thing. It seemed unresolved. Anywho. **

**Grumbello: Thank you again for your wonderful review. I can always count on you to read my stuff! Lol. No really though, I love you for it. Thanks so much!**

**Christmas Time at the Pie Hole**

"Is there a reason Digby has reindeer antlers on?" Ned asked with his head cocked to the side in confusion. "It's festive," Chuck answered matter-of-factly as she walked into the kitchen, arms full of plates.

"I don't usually do festive," Ned said watching her adjust the garland she had hung on the counter. "It's Christmas, the happiest time of year. What can you possibly have against Christmas?" Chuck frowned. Ned seemed to space for a few minutes and Chuck raised an eyebrow at him, "Earth to Ned?"

"Huh?" he said snapping out of the daze. The sound of Olive's voice singing Christmas songs reached their ears before she was seen coming into the kitchen. "Hello, everybody!" she said cheerfully adjusting the Santa hat on her head. She took two more hats from behind her back, her smile never faltering. Resuming her singing, she stretched onto her tiptoes and placed one on Ned's head before prancing over to Chuck and put one on Chuck's head and kissing her lightly on the nose.

Ned took the hat off his head and set it on the counter, "Can you please keep your holiday cheer contained and to yourself? That would be greatly appreciated," he said folding his arms over his chest. "Someone's being a Grinch," Olive pouted. Before Ned could respond Emerson walked up to the counter, a bright, slightly too small Christmas sweater stretched over his chest.

"Not you too," Ned sighed as Olive and Chuck giggled. "Hey, my daughter gave me this sweater," Emerson said gesturing towards the felt Christmas tree and dancing elves on the knit garment, "can't a person just get some pie without criticism?"

Olive walked away to get his pie and Chuck smiled at Ned, "See? Even Emerson is getting in the spirit."

"That's fine. Getting into the spirit is personal choice that one often makes this time of year. And as a personal choice, I choose not to get into said spirit," Ned said crossing his arms tighter, "now if you don't mind, I'm going to make some pie."

Chuck sighed and watched the Pie Maker walk away, not noticing when Olive walked up beside her. "What's wrong, hun?" the blonde asked resting her hand on Chuck's bicep.

She shrugged and wrapped her arms around Olive, drawing her closed, "I just wish Ned could get into the whole Christmas thing. I don't understand why he hates it so much."

"It's Ned. He's a strange one," Olive responded, resting her arms on top of Chuck's, "He has a thing about holidays."

Chuck just nodded and rested her cheek against the top of Olive's head. She responded by kissing the hollow of her throat, "Come on, let's get back to work."

The Dead Girl noticed Ned trying to avoid the decorations all day, hiding away in the undecorated kitchen whenever he could. "What is this?" he said setting a pan of holiday cookies on the counter in front of Chuck when she walked into the kitchen.

"I don't know," Chuck said going to take one but jerking her hand away when the cookie burned her. "Careful, they're hot," Olive said holding up Chuck's burned hand and kissing the reddening finger lovingly.

"Are you the perpetrator of this?" Ned said cocking his head to the side accusingly. "They're just cookies, Ned," she said getting the spatula to take the cookies off the pan and put them on a Santa plate she had somehow managed to get past Ned.

"They're not just cookies. They're little snowmen and candy canes and I find them offensive. I would like them removed by the time I come back." With that said, Ned put his coat over his shoulders and walked out of the Pie Hole.

"Wow," Olive said flatly, "he really does not like Christmas." The bell over the door sounded a woman walked in holding a child, her husband following close behind. Chuck felt the sadness float over her that she felt every time she saw a baby. Her and Olive had already tried to have a baby twice and failed. Chuck knew that Olive felt like a disappointment because none of the fertilizations ever took, no matter how much Chuck reassured her that it wasn't her fault.

"I'll take this one," Chuck said seeing the same look of sadness on Olive's face that she was experiencing. Olive nodded, turning back to her cookies and Chuck went to wait on the customers. They had tried one more time, but it would be another couple of days before they knew the results. She tried to remain hopeful for Olive's sake, but it was hard.

"I think my biological clock is on its last few ticks," Olive said to Chuck the last time they found out the fertilization had not taken. They were lying in bed, Olive laying half on Chuck, her head on her chest. "Don't say that," Chuck reassured her, "You're not old."

"I'm older than you," Olive snorted.

"Not by much," Chuck protested.

"By enough," Olive said raising an eyebrow at her.

After that, they had decided to try once more, hoping and praying that it would take. The few weeks that it would take to be able to tell if Olive was pregnant or not were some of the most excruciating few weeks of either of their lives.

It was the morning of Christmas and Chuck awoke to the smell of gingerbread and the soft sound of Christmas carols playing from the living room. She grasped at the other side of the bed, expecting to touch Olive, but the bed was empty. Looking drearily over at the clock, she noticed that it was seven o'clock in the morning. "Why is Olive up so early?" she mumbled to herself as she swung her legs out of the bed and walked into the kitchen.

The blonde was dressed festively in a red dress, bustling around the kitchen pulling cookies and cakes out of the oven and humming to herself. She didn't notice Chuck walk in, so the taller woman wrapped her arms around her from behind, stopping her in her tracks.

"Merry Christmas," Chuck said groggily, kissing behind Olive's ear. "Merry Christmas, dear," Olive responded capturing Chuck's lips with her own. "Why are you up so early?" Chuck asked rubbing her nose against Olive's cheek. "It came," Olive sighed.

"What? It came?" Chuck said, sleep fleeing her immediately, "where is it?" Olive pointed into the living room and Chuck followed her finger, rushing to the coffee table where a single envelope sat.

"You haven't opened it yet?" the brunette asked sitting on the couch. Olive shook her head and sat besides her, "I was waiting for you."

Chuck picked up the envelope and handed it to Olive who pushed it back towards her. "No, you open it," she insisted setting it on the taller woman's lap. She nodded and picked up the envelope, ripping it open carefully. She looked into the envolope at the folded paper inside. On this small, simple piece of paper was written whether Chuck and Olive's lives were about to change dramatically in the next nine months.

Nervously, Chuck reached into the envelope and pulled out the paper, her hand visibly shaking. She carefully unfolded it and read the words, her eyes blurring with tears immediately.

"Well?" Olive asked anxiously. Chuck looked over at Olive with tears running down her cheeks, "We're going to have a baby," she said squeakily.

Olive threw her arms around Chuck, both of them laughing and crying simultaneously. They shared a long kiss, reveling in the happiness they were experiencing at this moment. "We should tell Ned," Chuck said breathlessly when they finally pulled apart. "Can we tell him later?" Olive said suggestively, leaning in for another kiss.

Chuck groaned into the kiss but pushed Olive away lightly. "We should tell him now, and then we have all day to celebrate," Chuck reasoned, her hands on either side of Olive's face.

"You're so smart," Olive sighed, "I knew I married you for a reason." Chuck laughed and kissed her once more before bouncing off of the couch and heading for the door, her wife close behind.

Their hands were clasped as they rapped on Ned's door excitedly. He answered the door surprisingly quickly, looking at them both. "If you came to share some cheer, or whatever, I don't want any of it," he said flatly, "thank you." He closed the door on them and Chuck knocked again.

"Ned! Come on, we have something important to tell you!" He finally opened the door again and looked suspiciously at them both. "Fine," he sighed letting them in. "Ned, we have something very important to share with you," Olive said holding onto Chuck, "we're pregnant."

Ned's eyebrows raised in surprise, "What?"

"You're going to be an Uncle!" Chuck said unable to contain her smile. A slow smile began to spread across Ned's face and Chuck could have sworn she saw tears in his eyes.

"You guys are having a baby," he said quietly to himself. Olive untangled herself from Chuck and went over to hug Ned, "Thank you so much," she whispered, "for everything. If it weren't for you, none of this would be possible. You brought us a Christmas miracle."

"See," Chuck said, "Christmas isn't so bad is it?"

Ned gave his signature half smile, "No, I guess it isn't. I think I could learn to get into the holiday spirit."


End file.
